Sparky's Quest, Book I: Four Tribes
by Bulldozer Studios
Summary: Based off the widely popular nuzlocke challenge, this tale follows the adventure of Sparky, a young Pikachu who's destiny it is to destroy the evil threatening his world. With dozens of loveable characters, two regions to explore, and thousands of enemies barring his path, will he be able to complete this task alive? Rated "T" for graphic violence and character death.
1. Prologue

POKEMON - Sparky's Quest, Book I

Prologue: Night of the invasion.

This story is based off the famous nuzlocke challenge.

\- PROLOGUE -

Nighttime. The Kanto region. The base of Mt. Moon. Wind blowing like a typhoon. A thunderstorm raging in the background.

Not the best place to be on the night a dark overlord is planning to overthrow the Pokemon world, and your friends are being pursued by a group of his henchmen.

"Ack... hurry up! They're right on our tails!" A brash young Magmar shouted to his companions, gazing over his shoulder at the pass behind them. The Pokemon Center was closed for the night.

"Charcoal, maybe it's you who needs to hurry up! You're in the back of the line!" An elderly Charizard called over his shoulder at the Magmar, eyes on the tall cliffs above. He was clearly searching for something. Or someone.

The Magmar, Charcoal, snorted in frustration.

"Can we run now and talk later, Brimstone?" He fired back at the elderly Charizard, who growled in anger.

A very exhausted-looking Pikachu, whom was in the middle of this group of Pokemon, sighed in frustration, before turning to his love, a similar looking female Pikachu, whom was holding their crying child; A very young Pichu.

"Rosebud, how's Sparky doing?" He asked his love, keeping a sharp eye on the nearby forest, poised to strike at the first sign of trouble.

The young female Pikachu said some soothing words into their child's ear, trying and failing to calm him. His cries echoed off the nearly rock walls.

"Not good, Blitz. I can't get him to stop crying." She replied sadly, tears in her own eyes.

The elderly Charizard, Brimstone, wasn't happy.

"This isn't good... if he cries any louder, he's going to give us away..." He said to his companions, continuing to watch the cliffside.

There was a good reason why they were traveling under these circumstances. They were from one of four Pokemon tribes that lived in the Kanto region. They were of Tribe Alpha, the first of the four. The other three tribes were Delta, Gamma, and Omega. They all consisted of Pokemon who insisted on living away from Pokemon Trainers and the human world in general. Located in four places humans can never travel too, attacking anyone who would dare trespass upon their land, these tribes lived in peace and harmony for many centuries, each one supporting the other.

Until the day one Pokemon, A middle-aged shiny Rayquaza named "Darkmoon", who hailed from Tribe Gamma, began to hunger for power. Ultimate power. Never-ending power. The power to command and rule all the Pokemon in the world. He made up a fake story to tell the other tribes, which states that he is searching for "True Power" in order to bring peace to all Pokemon in the world.

However, many Pokemon weren't fooled. Upon learning of his evil intentions, Brimstones younger brother, A Blastoise named "Hydroman", ordered Darkmoon to cease his search for power. But the Rayquaza disobeyed him and ran away, having picked up a lead on where some of this ultimate power may be. The other tribe leaders ordered him to cease this foolish hunt for never-ending power, but he didn't listen.

True to his findings, he had managed to find some of this ultimate power, and within two short years, it had turned the Pokemon world into a world of war; The four tribes fighting to stay alive against the endless onslaught of Darkmoon's followers. This war has raged on for decades, with many valiant Pokemon losing their life's over the course of the war. And somehow, this war has gone on for so long without the humans ever noticing it. This was probably for the best, since humans would likely get in the way of all the fighting and end up getting themselves killed. The fighting usually ended up getting pretty nasty!

Not long ago, Brimstone had managed to look up an old prophecy of the four tribes: "When evil is on the verge of overthrowing the world, The Chosen One will be born, and in the near future, he will become powerful enough to stand against the evil and destroy it." The other tribe leaders, who had long since forgotten about this prophecy, did their best to believe it as a prophecy, and not a figment of Brimstone's imagination.

Shortly afterwards, two Pikachu lovers, the male who hailed from Tribe Alpha, and the female who hailed from Tribe Omega, had a child who displayed unusual amounts of power at a very tender age. Brimstones personal advisor, an Alakazam named "Foredawn", had said himself that this young Pichu's power was beyond anything he had ever seen before. It was said this Pichu's power rivals that of six adult Richu. Brimstone was shocked, because he was sure the prophecy had come true, and this Pichu was, indeed, the chosen one.

Which was why he and his companions, even now, were making their way back to Alpha, keeping a sharp eye out for Darkmoon's minions, who had received word the chosen one had been born, and were ordered to capture him at all costs.

This war party consisted of Brimstone himself, the Magmar called Charcoal, Sparky and his parents, Rosebud and Blitz, and a Glaceon called "Deepchill".

"Nothing so far. I think we're home free." Deepchill called happily, having not seen any of Darkmoon's minions for some time.

Brimstone, however, wasn't so sure.

"Don't forget, Darkmoon's army mainly consists of Ghost-types. They could pop out at us at anytime." He called over his shoulder, now looking out into the forest while Rosebud and Blitz watched the cliff-side, Sparky now sniffling sadly.

"Yeah, we better be careful. I don't want to end up ghost-type food tonight." Said Charcoal, who picked up his pace and walked past Deepchill, who appeared to be lost in thought. Nobody was watching the pass behind them.

Big mistake.

"AAAAAIIIIIEEEEEEEHHHHHHH" Deepchill screamed bloody murder behind the group, causing all of them to whip around in shock.

Ghastlys, Haunters, Gengars, and even some Magmars, among other kinds of ghost and dark-type Pokemon, were standing there, huge evil grins across their faces. Deepchill was lying in a pool of blood at their feet.

"DEEPCHILL!" Charcoal screamed in terror.

Suddenly, Brimstones attention was called to the cliff-side nearby. More evil Pokemon were lining up atop it, starring down at them with large, evil grins.

"In the forest!" Blitz called, pointing toward the forest. Everyone whipped around to look into the forest. Even more evil Pokemon were gazing out at them.

"They got us surrounded!" Rosebud cried, gazing around in a panic.

Brimstone stepped forward, his tail burning like a firestorm.

"GHOST-TYPES! Why have you stopped us!?" He yelled fiercely. The ghost-types just laughed.

"Give us the chosen one... and we will let you live... refuse us... and die..." One of the Gengars said darkly, causing Rosebud's back to tingle in pure terror.

Brimstone, however, wasn't willing to back down so easily. Charcoal stepped up next to him, anger in his eyes.

"Never. I'd rather die then give up the chosen one." The elderly Charizard challenged. The Gengars eyes narrowed in frustration.

"Then die, you shall. KILL THEM ALL!" He yelled, and in moments, the large war party of ghost-types dogpiled Brimstone and company. Brimstone and Charcoal managed to take out a large portion of them with Fire Blast, and Blitz and Rosebud both managed to hit a fair number of enemies with Thunder, but their sheer numbers meant some still managed to slip through and hit the team.

"Brimstone, theirs too many! We'll never-" But what they would never, Brimstone never found out. At that moment, several Gengar dog-piled Charcoal. His screams of raw agony echoed loudly as they slowly killed him.

"Charcoal!" Brimstone shouted, before fire blasting another group of Pokemon away. He had spent years developing his Fire Blast into a work of art, and as a result, it was powerful enough to take out legendary Pokemon such as Entei, and even Mewtwo, in a single strike. Not to mention it had an area of effect, meaning it could hit more then one Pokemon, making it highly useful in situations such as this.

Blitz and Rosebud were badly hurt, doing their best to protect Sparky, but the ghost-types showed no sign of letting up anytime soon. They took a loving glance at each other, and at their son, and sighed sadly.

"So, this is the way it's gotta be..." Blitz said sadly. He then turned to face Brimstone, who was in the middle of fire blasting another group of Pokemon away. Rosebud and Blitz ran up to him, getting his attention, and handed him Sparky.

"Brimstone, take Sparky and get out of here, NOW! We'll hold them off!" Blitz shouted, turning to face the incoming group of Pokemon again. Brimstone looked visibly shocked.

"What!? Blitz, Rosebud, you'll never make it!" He said firmly, but the Pikachu parents wouldn't hear of it.

"Brimstone, you know there's no choice. It's Sparky they're after. You must take him and get out of here, quickly!" Rosebud said, Thunderbolting an incoming Haunter, and receiving a Shadow Ball in the chest in return.

Brimstone was unsure of what to do. Take the child and leave the parents to die, or stand his ground and risk joining them in the afterlife, and allow Sparky to fall into the hands of evil? He decided to take them up on their idea.

"Blitz, Rosebud... thank you. For everything." The Charizard said sadly, and bowing his head to the pair, as they continued fighting with all their might. They just waved back to him.

"Now go, hurry!" Blitz called out, using Thunder on an incoming Gengar.

Brimstone, Sparky held tightly in his arm, turned around and, after using Fire Blast to make an opening in the ghost Pokemon who were hovering above them like a giant dome, used Fly to take to the sky.

"Mama... papa..." The young Pichu whimpered, reaching out a hand to his parents, as if wanting them to take off and fly with him away from all this violence. Sadly, this wasn't the case.

Blitz and Rosebud watched them go, before being violently thrown to the ground by several Gengar. The deaths of the couple were slow and painful.

"MAMA! PAPA!" Sparky cried in his little voice, before he started crying again.

But Brimstone had no time to comfort the child; The ghost-types, sensing all their ground enemies were dead, rounded on Brimstone and started launching shadow balls at him. The Charizard dodged them like a professional dodge ball player.

"Hang on, kid!" Brimstone shouted, picking up speed as he flew away from the carnage below. And within a few seconds, he was out of sight.

The evil Pokemon yelled and screamed in frustration. Their target had escaped.

"WE'RE OUT OF RANGE!" A Ghastly shouted.

"The winds against us! We'd never keep up at that speed!" A Magmar cried out, shaking his fist into the night.

"We'll never catch them now! They're probably halfway to their tribe by now!" A Haunted bellowed, slamming his fist into the ground in anger.

"ENOUGH!" An elderly Gengar screamed, silencing the rest of the Pokemon. He gave them all an evil look.

"We may have lost the battle today, but never fear. We still managed to take out four of their number. We'll be victorious before long at this rate." He said in a highly convincing tone, smiling happily the whole way.

The other Pokemon under his sway all laughed darkly, before setting off for their masters lair, leaving behind the corpses of their four victims for the humans to clean up. Not only would it be a waste of time to try and dispose of the bodies, but none of them knew how to use Dig, which would make the job much easier.

"Gotta remind the boss to teach some of us how to use Dig later." The elderly Gengar muttered to himself, before taking one last glance at the four bloody bodies lying in the pass, smirking to himself for a job well done, and leaving.

Brimstone arrived at Tribe Alpha, landing safely in front of his shelter, which was two stories tall and in the shape of a giant Pokeball, except with a green top half and brown bottom half, to help it blend into the trees and rocks surrounding it.

He stepped inside and looked around. The other three tribe leaders were already there. An adult female Meganium named "Tulip", who lead Tribe Delta, a young-looking male Machamp named "Crusher", who lead Omega, and his brother Hydroman, who lead Gamma. Foredawn was there as well.

The three looked over at Brimstone as soon as he stepped inside. And were all shocked to see him holding Sparky.

"Brimstone, what happened? Where's the rest of your team?" Hydroman asked, as Brimstone stepped up to the round table they were all huddled around, looking grim.

"We were ambushed by Darkmoons forces. My team was wiped out." Brimstone announced sadly, receiving gasps from the other tribe leaders. Foredawn stepped up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"What of Sparky's parents?" He asked the Charizard, who looked over sadly.

"Gone. They stayed behind to hold them off while I escaped with their son." He replied, motioning to the young Pichu he held in his arms.

The other tribe leaders got up and walked over to him. Tulip was the first to reach him. She took Sparky tenderly from Brimstome.

"Brimstone, I..." Crusher started, but tripped over his own words. He never was good at conversations. "...I am so sorry." He finished sadly, before turning away.

"Charcoal, Deepchill, Blitz and Rosebud knew the risks well, as do we all. At least you were able to bring the chosen one back here safe and sound. You've nothing to regret." Hydroman told the Charizard, who continued to stare blankly, as if broken on the inside.

"Blitz and Rosebud sacrificed themselves so their child could escape. They went down heroes, and you know it. Don't mourn over their loss." Tulip said calmly, before peeking over at the young Sparky, who had begun to cry again. Crusher picked up the little Pichu and tickled his belly, causing the little child to giggle happily.

Brimstone just sighed.

"I can't help but wish there was something more I could have done. Something I could have done to save everyone, instead of having to watch them die." The Charizard said sadly. Having been alive for longer then most Pokemon, he had seen many a teammate fall in battle before, some he managed to save, some he couldn't. It didn't always end happily for this age-old veteran of war.

"At least they're in a better place now." Foredawn said in a comforting tone. The other tribe leaders nodded their heads in agreement.

Crusher stepped closer.

"So what'll we do about him?" He asked, pointing at the now sleeping Sparky. Despite his appearance, Crusher always did have a way with children. And Brimstone was thankful for that.

"If the prophecy is true, that Pichu will grow up to one day destroy this evil and bring peace back to our world." Brimstone said, stepping up to look down at the young Pichu, who was snoring softly.

"Let us hope that prophecy comes true." Foredawn said, taking a gaze out the window at the night sky, watching as the wind continued to rage, and the thunderstorm continued to close in on their village.


	2. Chapter 1: A Day In The Life

\- 15 YEARS LATER -

It had been a decade and a half since that night Sparky lost his parents. The young infant Pichu was now a young adult Pikachu, who was highly energetic, kind, and eager to explore, much to Foredawn's dismay. Brimstone, on the other hand, found it humorous, and encouraged the young Pikachu to explore, so long as he never ventured too far from home.

Sparky was armed with several powerful moves to defend himself with as well: Thunder, Iron Tail, Quick Attack, and Volt Tackle were his moves of choice, a decision Brimstone wholeheartedly agreed with. In his book, brute force was the best way to bring down an enemy. And the harder you can do it, the better.

On this fine mid-summer day, Sparky was down by the river that ran from his tribes village to Delta Tribes. Relaxing under the shade of a large apple tree that loomed over the river like an ancient tower, he felt content in taking a short nap. However, he was soon interrupted by someone, who had walked up and giggled at him.

"Sleeping on the job again, Sparky? You know we're supposed to be patrolling the village." A young females voice said to him, causing to stir and wake up. He looked over to see who had spoken. He smiled upon seeing who it was.

It was his young friend Zappa, a female Jolteon he had befriended about 7 years ago, after Brimstone brought her to the village from Goldenrod City in Johto. She had been abandoned by the owners of the game corner ( much to several Pokemon Trainers dismay and disgust ), and Brimstone had managed to slip past all of them and bring her back to the village. Along the way, they had stumbled upon a thunderstone, which she ( as an Eevee ) used to evolve into Jolteon. She and Sparky had been best friends since childhood, and got along very well. She was as energetic as him, though she was slightly more serious about protecting the village, and wasn't as big a fan of exploring outside the village as Sparky was.

"It's a beautiful day, figured I might as well try to get some more sleep." Sparky said to his friend, climbing to his feet.

But Zappa had jumped into him, knocking them both to the ground.

"Haha, you silly! I was just teasing you!" She said through her laughs, causing Sparky to laugh as well.

"Hey, get off! What if the elders see us like this!?" He complained, and rolled her off of him. The pair climbed to their feet, wiping themselves down and shaking off the leaves.

"Come on, let's get to work!" Zappa said happily, before taking off toward the village, Sparky hot on her heels.

This village truly was a beautiful place. Secluded where no human would ever find it, and where Pokemon who didn't live here would have a difficult time finding it, even from the sky. The only way one would know this village existed is to look for the giant Squirtle head carved into a nearby mountain, which was dubbed "Mt. Squirtle". The village itself consisted of many huts, shelters and houses where the various Pokemon lived. A large berry plantation nearby provided the village with it's food supply, and water was easily obtained from the river nearby. A large flower garden in the middle of the village made everyone happy, while a dirt path off to the north led to Death's Cave, where they buried their dead. Beside Brimstone's house, or shelter, as many people call it, was a large wooden stage, where the Charizard would give speeches every morning and announce any important matters that cropped up. A large fountain with a statue of a Pokeball was sitting outside Brimstones house. Every once in a while, something special, such as a Pokeball, or an accessory, would appear inside the river, which was used for a decoration.

Speaking of which...

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Sparky said, pulling out something from his bag and holding it out to Zappa. It was a beautiful, sparkling pink scarf. She gasped when she saw it.

"Where did that come from!?" She asked in awe. Sparky just giggled.

"Fished it out of the river this morning. Don't you love it when treasures like this happen to wash up in our river?" He asked her, and she just looked up and nodded at him.

He then stepped closer to her and tied it around her neck, firmly so it wouldn't fall off. It looked really cute on her.

"It looks nice on you. You should keep it." He remarked, making her blush.

"Aww, you're just saying that to be nice." She teased playfully, punching him in the shoulder. Not hard, but enough to make him laugh.

"Hey, watch it! I bruise like a peach!" He complained, lying about his own endurance. Small as he was, he could take one heck of a beating, as proven when he was accidentally hit by one of Brimstones Fire Blasts, which should have killed him, but apart from some burns, Sparky was fine.

"Uh-oh, we better hurry!" Zappa exclaimed, and took off toward the village again, Sparky once again right behind her.

As Sparky got closer to Brimstones shelter, a sense of dread filled his being. It sounded as if all the tribe leaders were having a meeting. Sparky had rarely seen the other three tribe leaders outside of their villages, and he himself didn't visit the other villages very often.

He then got a feeling of deep sadness. The last time he was inside that building when all four tribe leaders were there, it was on the night his parents were killed. Brimstone and Foredawn had recommended June, the female Miltank who helped teach the young fighters new abilities, to care for the young Sparky. However, she died when Sparky was 9, and Brimstone and Foredawn have since taken care of him, helping him learn new moves and abilities. Which, thanks to his unusually high amounts of electrical power, was easy, as he had already mastered Volt Tackle.

Taking a breath, he stepped into the shelter. The four tribe leaders and Foredawn turned to look at him as he stepped inside. They all smiled.

"Hello, Sparky!" Hydroman said happily.

"Hey, kiddo!" Crusher greeted, waving all four of his hands at once.

"Hello, young Sparky." Tulip greeted kindly, giving him a warm smile.

"Ah, hello Sparky. Out for a stroll, I see." Brimstone said, walking up to Sparky and patting him on the head, causing the Pikachu to laugh happily.

"Yeah, just looking out for the old village." Sparky told the Charizard, who simply smiled.

"Good. This place needs all the protection it can get. What with Darkmoons forces running amuck in Kanto as of late..." The Charizard said with heaviness in his heart, as if he felt this war would never end.

The other three tribe leaders returned to what they were huddling over before Sparky interrupted them. They were peering at a giant map of Johto and Kanto.

Sparky walked over and looked at the map.

"What are you guys doing, anyway?" He asked. Crusher looked up at him.

"Tactics, kid. We're trying to figure out where Darkmoons gonna strike next. He's been acting rather suspicious as of late." The Machamp answered, before pointing at Pallet Town on the map. "He's already hit Pallet Town. Swiped every Pokemon out of there overnight. Nobody even saw him doing it. He was in and outta there in an instant."

Sparky looked dumbfounded. So did Tulip.

"But how did he manage to get in there and steal every Pokemon in the town without anyone noticing?" She asked, more to herself then to her fellow tribe leaders.

"Maybe his ghost-types put everyone to sleep who saw them doing the crime?" Crusher suggested.

"No, ghost types can't learn a move that puts things to sleep." Brimstone pointed out.

"Oh." Crusher said, looking down.

"Well, one things for sure: Darkmoon sure didn't do it himself. A gigantic, black Rayquaza, someone would have seen him for sure." Sparky chimed in. The tribe leaders looked over at him.

"You got a point, Sparky. It had to have been one of his minions. Probably one that can turn itself invisible." Hydroman threw out. The other leaders nodded in approval.

"It could have been Psychic types using Teleport." Zappa suddenly chimed in, having overheard the conversation. Everyone in the room turned to look at her.

"Hey, Zappa! What are you doing here?" Sparky asked.

"I was wondering where you were, and I couldn't help overhearing your conversation." She said, slightly embarrassed that she had been easedropping.

"What was that you said? About Psychic types?" Hydroman asked. Zappa stepped closer.

"They know how to use Teleport. I'd bet you anything they used it to sneak inside, grab the Pokemon, and Teleport them straight to Darkmoons lair. It's quick, it's quiet, and it gets the job done." She stated matter-of-factly. The leaders all looked at themselves.

"Well, if you got a better explanation, let me hear it now, cause that's the only one I've heard all day that makes sense." Brimstone said, and unsurprisingly, the other three leaders had nothing else to suggest.

"But how could those Psychic types Teleport INTO the houses and back to Darkmoons lair?" Tulip asked. Hydroman didn't take long to figure that out.

"Some other kind of Pokemon probably flew them into the nearby forest. Then they just broke into the houses, grabbed their targets and teleported out. It's the perfect way to mask their presence and cover their tracks." The Blastoise stated.

"And leaving all the doors and windows open, the humans probably assumed a cat burglar from Team Rocket broke in and grabbed their Pokemon. We all know Team Rocket has a bad reputation and history around here." Brimstone pointed out, remembering the two Team Rocket members, one with short blue hair, the other with long, bizarre-looking red hair he had to chase off from Tribe Delta's village last week.

They all agreed on that possibility. Brimstone turned to look at Sparky and Zappa.

"Thanks for helping us crack that case, you two. It was driving the four of us insane." He told the kids, who both smiled in return.

"No problem!" They both said in union. Tulip then turned to look at Foredawn.

"Foredawn, you've been very quiet today. Is something the matter?" She asked him, causing everyone else to look in his direction.

Brimstone gasped.

"Oh, no... get him into a seat, quick!" He ordered. Crusher sprang into action, leading Foredawn to a wooden chair nearby. Sparky and Zappa ran over to see what was happening.

Foredawns eyes were closed, as if he was in deep concentration. Sweat was dropping like bullets from his forehead.

"What's wrong with him?" Zappa asked fearfully. Brimstone turned to look at her, worry in his eyes.

"He's having a vision attack. It's a powerful omen of bad things to come! And it's never wrong!" He told the young pair, causing them to look at each other. Brimstone was just pulling their legs...

...Right?

Pretty soon, Foredawns eyes slowly opened again, and he gazed around at the concerned looks on his friends faces. He was panting heavily, as if he had just run a marathon.

"Foredawn, are you OK?" Sparky asked, who had stepped closer to Foredawn. The Alakazam wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

"I'm fine, but that vision was very strange..." He said, still panting heavily.

"What happened? Or, rather, what's GOING to happen?" Crusher asked.

The Alakazam slowly got to his feet.

"For some reason, all it told me is that Darkmoon wants to wring a young girls throat, or he wants a root beer float." He said, with a confused look on his face. Everyone looked just as confused as him.

"He wants a what or a what?" Sparky asked, confused to high heaven. Crusher looked over at him, scratching his head.

"You got me there, kid. His visions aren't always crystal clear. Sometimes they're harder to solve then a jigsaw puzzle." He said, still scratching his head.

Tulip just shrugged.

"Ha! Those visions couldn't predict a fall if Foredawn was stepping on a banana peel!" A young, snobbish voice said from the entrance. They all turned to look in that direction.

A young Machop, a few years younger then Sparky, was standing in the doorway, wearing a "I'm cool, I'm cruel" look on his face. This particular Machop was well known for trying to be the life of the party, and screwing it up big-time. A major snob, and a rival to Sparky and Zappa since childhood, he often ended up getting in trouble with the rest of the tribe and the tribe leaders, and the patrolmen. Especially Sparky and Zappa.

The four tribe leaders groaned in frustration.

"Oh, it's Chopper." Crusher groaned, while Brimstone just growled in anger.

The young Machop strolled into the room, trying, and failing miserably, to move like Michael Jackson, earning him giggles from both Sparky and Zappa.

"What a dork. Is he trying to bust a move, or bust a hip?" Zappa whispered to Sparky.

"I heard that, Missy!" Chopper snapped, trying to do a one-eighty spin and point his finger at Zappa. However, he miscalculated and instead drove his finger directly into the wall. With a sharp "GAH!!" of pain, he recoiled away, holding his finger, which stung as if it had been hit by a Rock Smash.

Sparky and Zappa couldn't help it; They burst out laughing. The tribe leaders just shrugged sadly, shook their heads, and sighed at Chopper, as if worried for the kids future.

Chopper lost his temper, stomped up to Zappa and Sparky, and pointed his now swollen finger at the pair.

"You two think you're so smart, huh? Just because you're the chosen one, you get to run around all day having fun with your girlfriend." He snapped at them.

Sparky made a furious move toward Chopper, but Zappa, after a loud gasp, got there first.

"Why, you little--" And before anyone could stop her, she Volt Tackled him out the entrance, sending him flying into the outside fountain.

Brimstone quickly jumped in-between the two, separating them.

"Zappa, let me handle this." He told the young Jolteon, who, after one final glare at Chopper, backed away, holding her shoulder, which had received a nasty bruise as a result of Volt Tackling Chopper at point-blank range.

Brimstone then rounded on Chopper, a furious look in his eyes.

"Chopper, I have HAD IT. This is the third time this week I've had to jump you because of your rotten attitude. Are you incapable of stopping yourself, or do you take pride in causing trouble for the other kids here? Not to mention the patrolmen." He demanded in his most dangerous tone, causing Chopper to rear back in fright.

Brimstone picked up Chopper and held him close to his face.

"I'm warning you, boy. I'm THIS close to throwing your happy carapace out of here for the sake of the other children. Don't think for a second that I won't. And I can personally assure you that you will NOT be welcomed by the other tribes. DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!?" He shouted, and Chopper wasted no time responding.

"Transparently, Brimstone. Eh, Sir." The little Machop replied, causing Brimstone to drop him on the ground.

"And for the record, that is no way to speak to a young girl like Zappa." Brimstone then turned and headed back to his place. Sparky and Zappa just looked a Chopper with "You-Shouldn't-Have-Done-That" smirks on their faces.

"Well, what did you expect? You acted like a jerk, and disrespected us right in front of the four tribe leaders. Of course he was gonna lecture you again." Zappa said, making a "tut-tut" motion with her finger at Chopper.

Chopper just looked frustrated.

"Laugh now, you two losers. But as soon as their backs are turned, I'm gonna knock you two down a leg or three! Then we'll see how the great chosen one really is." The young Machop fired at them, before standing up and slowly waddling away; That Volt Tackle had left him partly paralyzed.

Sparky and Zappa just looked at each other.

"Should we hold our breath?" He asked her. She shook her head, and they both laughed.

"Nah, I doubt he'd ever be able to knock us down a leg or two. We're, like, twenty legs above him." She replied, giggling happily. Sparky smiled.

"Haha, yeah. And his dancing, yuck! If moves could kill, he'd be dead already. And that's saying something, considering the mad moves we're armed with." He said in a smug sort of tone. Zappa just giggled.

"What kind of moves, though? Combat or dancing?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"Both. Hands down." He replied, and they both burst out laughing again. But their laughter was soon cut short when Zappa let out a pain filled gasp, followed by a loud "Ouch!" and fell to her knees, holding her side.

"Owowowowow! Oh, my sides! Ow!" She cried out. Sparky gasped and ran to her side.

"Are you OK!?" He asked, worried that she had hurt herself. He helped her to her feet.

"I... I think so. My side and shoulder really hurt, though." She said in a somewhat painful tone, before gasping in pain again.

Sparky took a look. He could see a small amount of blood leaking out her side.

"Oh no, you're bleeding! I gotta get you to the infirmary, ASAP!" He exclaimed, and quickly lead her away to the village infirmary.

"Ouch! Maybe I shouldn't have Volt Tackled Chopper like that. It was point-blank, too..." Zappa said sadly. Sparky just shook his head in frustration.

"If anyone's to blame, it's Chopper. He's the one who started it in the first place." The Pikachu said, knocking on the infirmary door. Zappa giggled slightly.

"I guess I taught him a lesson, huh?" She asked, letting out another painful grunt. Sparky smiled at her.

"If your in this condition, he must be in REALLY bad shape. Yeah, I'd say you showed him who's boss around here." He told her, making her smile.

\- A COUPLE HOURS LATER -

It was almost afternoon time. The other three tribe leaders had departed for their respected villages, and Zappa was resting comfortably in the infirmary. Turns out she had just cut herself on a low tree branch when she attacked Chopper. Melody, the female Jigglypuff who ran the infirmary, said that Zappa would be fine after a little rest.

Sparky was now patrolling the border of the Village, watching out for anything suspicious. He had a small alarm bell to use if he actually spotted something, to signal to the other patrolmen that something undesirable was approaching the village.

He was slightly lost in thought over Foredawns vision earlier that day. He was still having trouble trying to figure out what it meant. Brimstone had decided that it could wait until the next meeting of the tribe leaders, which would take place in Delta's village.

Sparky did his best to try and crack the code of Foredawns vision, but after a couple hours of puzzling, he had only come to one conclusion: That whatever was going to happen did not, in any way, involve a root beer float.

Nor was it going to involve a young female Pokemon Trainer with long, blonde hair and a night black dress coming across the plain on the other side of the line of trees Sparky was standing next to.

So when he looked over and spotted her, about half a mile out, heading straight for the trees he was next to which hid the village, he gasped loudly.

"Holy mother of Mareep!" He exclaimed, and quickly rang his bell. Small as it was, the sound did reach the village, warning everyone something bad was coming.

A young female Flareon named "Hotsauce" was there in an instant.

"What is it?" She asked In a very serious tone. Sparky pointed at the approaching Trainer. Hotsauce looked over.

"Human! Half a mile and closing!" He explained. Hotsauce narrowed her eyes. This wasn't the first time they have had to steer a human away from their home, so she already had a plan.

"No worries, she'll never make it to the village. I got a plan." She said happily. She then turned around and whistled loudly.

A few moments later, a large Braviary named "Colors" landed next to her. He stood tall and proud, pushing out his chest in a dignified manner. He saluted Hotsauce as soon as he landed.

"What do you need, ma'am?" He asked Hotsauce. She quickly cut to the chase, pointing at the approaching Trainer.

"A Trainers coming. Think you can deal with her?" She asked her large friend, who took a look at the trainer, and grinned.

"Why, certainly, ma'am. I'll just lure her away. It's not every day you see a Braviary in Kanto, after all." He said in a highly dignified and posh tone, before taking to the sky again. He quickly flew high, high enough so the Trainer would see him, and took off in a direction away from the village.

It worked. The trainer quickly turned and took off full-speed after Colors, a PokeDex in her hand. Sparky and Hotsauce laughed.

"Gets them every time, I swear." Hotsauce commented, mocking the Trainer for taking off like that. They could be manipulated so easily with rare or unusual Pokemon, it honestly wasn't fair at times.

"They never learn, do they?" Sparky asked, leaning against a nearby tree for support as he laughed.

"Apparently not." Hotsauce said, before letting out another laugh.

"Well, thanks for the help. I better get back to my patrol." Sparky said, which got Hotsauces attention.

"Very well. Say, where's your friend Zappa the Jolteon?" She asked, noticing Zappa wasn't with Sparky; An extremely rare sight. Sparky sighed in anger.

"Chopper. Who else? Got her landed in the infirmary." The Pikachu said in a frustrated tone. Hotsauce just sighed.

"I swear, that kids going to end up getting himself thrown out of here one of these days, I just know it." She said, and sighed again. Sparky just shrugged.

"Well, if he does, it's his fault. Brimstone's warned him time and again to watch his behavior, and he just doesn't want to listen. I guess it's only a matter of time before that silly Machop gets the boot." Sparky said, before turning and continuing down the row of trees. "Well, see you later."

"Bye." Hotsauce called back, before taking off into the trees and back to the village.

Sparky looked out at the plain again. The Trainer was long gone. Thank goodness.

Sparky continued down his patrol route, confident that nothing else could go wrong that fine day.

...Or so he thought.

"YOU'RE DEAD, SPARKY!!"


	3. Chapter 2: Sore Loser

Sparky, having heard a yell behind him, quickly barrel rolled out of the way, causing his attacker to fly face-first into a tree. He quickly turned to see who it was.

"CHOPPER!" Sparky exclaimed, more furious then shocked. "But, why--" He started to ask, but Chopper, having pried his head loose from the tree, rounded on him and cut in: "You knew this was coming, Sparky! I'm sick and tired of you and Zappa acting like you own this village! It's high time someone put you two losers in your place!" He spat, causing Sparky to growl in anger.

"It's thanks to you that Zappas in the infirmary for the rest of the day. I'm amazed Brimstone didn't burn you to a crisp after that." The Pikachu spat back, poised to strike in case Chopper tried anything. "If anyone around here needs to be taught a lesson, it's you!"

Chopper just snorted.

"Well, to each his own. All I know is, you're gonna need a week in the infirmary after I'm finished with you!" The Machop shouted, and without any further warning, he charged full speed at Sparky, attempting to use Brick Break. However, Sparky, being as fast as he was, once again managed to avoid the attack, causing Chopper to once again crash head-first into a tree.

Sparky couldn't help but giggle at the sight of Chopper trying to free his head from the tree.

"Come on, cut the act, Chopper. You're in enough trouble with Brimstone as it is. Do I need to go report you for attacking a patrolman while he's on duty?" Sparky inquired, as Chopper finally freed himself from the tree. He turned to face the Pikachu again.

"Well, that's a risk I'm willing to take." Chopper announced, before lunging at Sparky again. Luckily, he was able to dodge the Low Kick.

Chopper looked up, and gasped when he saw Sparky coming his way, his tail jet black. He was using Iron Tail! The Machop jumped aside, and Sparky hit the ground with the force of a freight train.

Sparky got to his feet and dodged a Headbutt from Chopper, before attacking back with Quick Attack. This move hit its mark, sending Chopper flying into another tree. Sparky just laughed.

"Sheesh, your battlings even worse then your dancing!" The Pikachu remarked, earning a snarl from Chopper, who got to his feet, his fists up and ready.

"Oh, you MAGIKARP!" Chopper yelled, and once again, he used Headbutt on Sparky. This one scored a direct hit, sending Sparky flying through the air. Chopper laughed.

"Ha! Gotcha!" He shouted triumphantly.

However, Sparky managed to turn himself around mid-air, and with a well-timed handspring, he was back on his feet. He chuckled at Chopper.

"Gee, I didn't feel a thing. Is that the best you can do?" He asked his opponent, who simply snorted in anger, before once again assuming a fighting stance.

"No tribe leaders around to stop the battle this time, Sparky!" The Machop said, before running in and attempting to use Close Combat on Sparky. However, the agile Pikachu once again managed to dodge it.

"Alright then. TAKE THIS!!" Sparky shouted, before taking aim at Chopper with Iron Tail. This one scored a devastating hit, knocking the wind out of Chopper as if he'd just got hit in the chest by a boulder. The Machop laid there groaning in agony, holding his side that had nearly gotten torn open by the sheer force of the attack.

Sparky landed nearby, and wiped his brow, sensing this battle was over.

"Next time, don't be a moron. And learn to battle better, you jerk." He remarked, before turning and returning to his patrol route. He had half a mind to go and report him to Brimstone for attacking a patrolman while he was on duty, but decided against it. He figured Chopper had had enough punishment for one day.

However, Chopper wasn't quite finish with him yet. Getting to his feet, he lunged at Sparky with another Headbutt. Sparky, hearing him coming, quickly sidestepped out of the way, allowing Chopper to hit the ground in front of him.

"You never give up, do you?" Sparky asked as Chopper groaned in pain, spat out some grass and dirt he had gotten in his mouth, and shook his head. The silly Machop had knocked himself silly.

Chopper climbed to his feet, exhausted and badly hurt, but he wasn't about to give up just yet.

"NEVERMORE!!" He shouted, and charged at Sparky once again. But Sparky managed to avoid the attack, and quickly counterattacked with Quick Attack, which launched Chopper high into the sky, followed up by Iron Tail. Both moves hit their mark with brutal force, injuring the young Machop to the point of nearly losing consciousness. Chopper slammed into a nearby tree with the force of a pickup truck.

Sparky took a step back, watching as Chopper slowly climbed to his feet. He was Hurt bad, bleeding out his side and his mouth, and he was staggering around, as if struggling to stay on his feet. Sparky just sighed, and shook his head.

"Chopper, if we keep battling any longer, you're going to end up dead. Can't we just call it quits already?" The Pikachu asked, taking note of how badly hurt Chopper was. He needed medical attention quickly, or he wouldn't survive the hour. "I mean, look at yourself! Your just killing yourself at this point! Is losing your own life worth it just to settle some stupid childhood rivalry?"

Chopper tried to walk over to Sparky, but fell to one knee instead. He raised his head and glared at Sparky, who simply sighed again.

"Well, like it or not, you need medical care, and you need it now." He told Chopper, who was trying to climb to his feet again. Failing that, he fell to one knee again. Sparky rang his patrolman's bell.

Chopper just looked up at him, a deep contempt in his eyes.

"That's... just like you... always gotta... play the hero..." He said to Sparky, before coughing up a small amount of blood. He was too weak to even stand, let alone continue to fight Sparky, who just stood over him like a wrathful hawk.

"You attacked me first, AND while I was on patrol duty. Whatever happens to you, it's your fault and yours alone." Sparky told Chopper, causing the young Machop to groan in frustration. And in agony. Sparky had him over a barrel, and he had caught him breaking the rules. Chopper couldn't see how he was going to worm his way out of trouble this time.

Moments later, Hotsauce the Flareon was back, this time followed by Brimstone. The pair immediately noticed Chopper, down on one knee and hurt badly. Flareon rushed over and inspected his injuries.

"What happened!?" She asked in a startled tone, as Brimstone made his way over. Sparky stepped closer.

"He attacked me while I was on patrol. I had no choice but to subdue him." Sparky told the two fire-types, causing them to look at him first, then to each other, then at Chopper. Brimstone, a furious look on his face, knelt down next to Chopper and forced the Machop to look up at him. Steam was coming out of his nostrils like a kettle on a hot stove.

"Oh, your in big trouble this time, young man! As soon as you get yourself patched up, your to report to my meeting room immediately! There will be serious consequences for this, I can assure you! Nothing gives you the right to attack a patrolman while he's on duty! It's their job to keep our enemies out of the village, and keep us safe!" The Charizard took another look at Choppers condition, and growled. "Look at yourself. You almost got yourself killed over some stupid petty argument! Or childhood rivalry! Or whatever other reason you keep trying to excuse yourself for, just so you can continue to torment Sparky and his friends!"

Sparky stepped up next to Brimstone.

"I tried to talk him out of it, but he wasn't hearing any of it. He wanted to fight, no matter what happened to him." Sparky explained, as Hotsauce helped Chopper to his feet. He was still too weak to stand on his own.

"Hotsauce, take him to the infirmary. And tell Melody that he's to come see me as soon as he's healed." Brimstone instructed the Flareon, who nodded at him, before leading Chopper off toward the infirmary. The Machop took one final, spiteful look at Sparky, then allowed himself to be lead away.

Brimstone and Sparky watched him go until he was out of sight. The Charizard then let out a low whistle, before looking down at Sparky.

"Jeez, you think you were rough enough on him? He looked like he was about ready to fall over and die!" He told Sparky with a little laugh. Sparky just chuckled at him.

"Well, he attacked me first. I had to get a little tough on him." Sparky told Brimstone, as he turned around and gazed out into the plains, stretching both his arms in the process. "Hopefully now, he'll learn to pick his fights a little better."

"Or maybe not pick fights period. Especially with village patrolmen." Brimstone remarked, chuckling to himself, glad that someone had finally put that troublemaker in his place.

Sparky then remembered something. Something that had been bothering him all day.

"Hey, did you figure out that vision Foredawn had this morning yet?" Sparky asked Brimstone, who only shook his head in frustration.

"No. That's one of his most confusing visions to date. He's been meditating about it all day." Brimstone said, while also gazing out into the plains.

"Well, one things for sure: It certainly doesn't involve a root beer float in any way. I think we can scratch that off the list." Sparky told Brimstone, and the two started laughing.

"Yes, I think you're right. Of all the things for his visions to tell him, they told him about a human dessert." Brimstone replied, and the two laughed again.

But their laughter was soon cut short by the loudest thing they had ever heard.

KA-BOOM!!

A massive explosion caught the two off-guard. It sounded as if a bomb had gone off.

"What the heck was that!?" Sparky asked, gazing all around, trying to spot the source of the explosion.

Brimstone tapped Sparky's shoulder, pointing at the woods across the plains. A huge mushroom cloud of smoke was rising out of the trees.

"We better go check it out. Hop on, kid!" Brimstone said, before lowering himself onto all fours, allowing Sparky to jump onto his back. The Charizard then took flight, and sped off toward the gigantic cloud of smoke, which continued to slither upwards toward the sky like a giant black Ekans.

Brimstone landed next to what appeared to be a battlefield. Several trees had been ripped from the ground and were now lying on their sides all over the ground like pick-up sticks. The ground itself was scorched black, and smoke rose off the nearby trees, as if they were warning the two that they might catch fire at any moment. A few dead Pokemon littered the ground.

"What happened here? This is terrible..." Sparky said as he walked up to a dead Pidgey. The poor bird-type looked as if it had attempted to flee from the area right before the explosion.

"Sparky, over there!" Brimstone suddenly shouted, before racing over to a most gruesome sight nearby. Sparky was right next to him in seconds.

"Oh no..." Sparky gasped, horrified at what he was looking at.

It was the young Pokemon Trainer that Sparky, Hotsauce and Colors had lead away from the village. She was lying on her back in a pool of scarlet blood, her limbs sticking out in limp, lifeless ways. She was starring up at the remaining trees with glassy, lifeless eyes. Several large branches were sticking out of her chest and stomach, indicating it was not the explosion, but the force of it impaling her upon several branches, that killed her.

Sparky put a hand on her wrist, checking for a pulse.

Nothing.

She was dead.

He turned to Brimstone and shook his head sadly, before reaching over and closing her eyes. The Charizard lowered his head in sadness. It wasn't the first time a Trainer had been killed by their war, but this, by far, was the worst he had ever seen. Her, along with several innocent Pokemon. Never before had he heard of someone, or something, committing such a heinous crime.

"But who? Who could have done this?" Sparky asked, dreading the answer. Brimstone was at a loss for what to say. He finally forced himself to speak.

"I have no idea, Sparky. I wish you could tell me." He replied. There had to be a logical explanation for this sudden act of destruction to occur so close to their home.

Suddenly, Sparky heard a groan of agony nearby. He turned around, and what he saw made him gasp again.

A Braviary was lying against a tree. He was hurt pretty bad, and was panting heavily, as if he were the lone survivor of some dreadful battle.

Sparky recognized him right away as Colors, the Braviary who had lured this Trainer away from their village not long before his duel with Chopper. Brimstone looked over at him, too.

"What the heck!?" They both said in union, before running over to Colors side. The Braviary looked up at the pair as they approached, and groaned in pain again.

"Colors, what happened!?" Sparky asked, his eyes wide with fear and concern for the heroic red white and blue bald eagle Pokemon. Colors just grunted in pain.

"Koffings, young sir. Hoards of them. They all self-destructed at the same time. I tried to protect that Trainer, but there were too many of them. They killed her, along with several innocent Pokemon that were passing by." He explained to the pair, causing them to look at each other in concern. Had dozens of Koffings really done this?

"Hmm, that's to many Koffings in one group to be natural. Wanna take a bet that our old friend Darkmoons at it again?" Sparky asked, to which Brimstone and Colors nodded in agreement. This was definitely Darkmoons doing.

"Only question is, what is he up to?" Brimstone asked, a hand on his chin. Why would Darkmoon send dozens of Koffings out here, to the middle of nowhere, and have them explode for seemingly no reason?

"You'll find out..." Someone said behind them in a very dark tone. They all turned and looked.

A very evil-looking Gengar was standing there, his usual wicked grin upon his face. It wasn't uncommon for a Gengar to wear such a grin on their face, but the way this one looked was more... evil, then usual, if that was possible.

Sparky and Brimstone, sensing trouble, stood up and stood in front of Colors, assuming fighting stances. Colors just groaned in pain again. The Gengar laughed once again.

"Do you honestly think you can protect him from me?" He asked Sparky and Brimstone, who were giving this black Pokemon cold stares.

"Who are you? Your one of Darkmoons minions, aren't you?" Sparky asked, causing the Gengar to reel back in laughter.

"So you did your homework. I'd say I'm impressed, but I would be lying to myself if I did." The Gengar replied. Brimstone just snorted in anger. He didn't like where any of this was going, especially with a wounded teammate right behind him.

"I don't know what you want, but you better scram, of they'll be trouble!" The elderly Charizard shouted, causing the Gengar to put on a fake, wounded face.

"Oh ho, why must we always fight? Can't we all be friends?" He asked in a very fake, very stale "Mr. Nice Guy" tone. But Brimstone and Sparky weren't buying it.

"We'd rather hear it from Darkmoon." Sparky spat, causing the Gengar to turn back around and grin evilly once again.

"Oh well, I tried. LETS GET EM', BOYS!" He suddenly shouted, pointing at Brimstone and Sparky.

Within a few seconds, a huge hoard of at least a hundred Gengar stood behind him, ready for battle. Their eyes flashed red and they all grinned evilly.

Brimstone and Sparky looked around at the massive army of Gengar. Colors grunted in agony behind them again.

"I got a bad feeling about this..." Brimstone told Sparky.


	4. Chapter 3: Making a Plan

"LOOK OUT!!" Sparky bellowed, jumping aside as a shadow ball flew past him and into another tree. Brimstone sent a fire blast in the direction of the Gengar army, managing to kill a few of their number.

The Gengars wasted no time in attacking back, and pretty soon, all of them were running and jumping around, firing shadow balls at Brimstone and Sparky.

In all the fighting, Colors was in danger of being hit by the shadow balls flying everywhere.

"We gotta protect Colors!" Brimstone shouted, Using Strength to toss a tree into several incoming Gengar.

"But how!? Theirs to many of them!" Sparky shouted back, Thundering several incoming Gengar, all the while doing his best to avoid the many shadow balls flying in their direction. He was forced to do some stupid sort of spin in mid-air to avoid an incoming attack.

The two fought with all their might, taking out a large portion of the Gengar they were faced with, but there's only so much a single Charizard and Pikachu can do. One of the shadow balls managed to hit Colors wing, causing him to roar in agony.

Brimstone and Sparky gasped loudly, turning to make sure Colors was alright. This was a mistake, however, as they both got hit by a shadow ball, knocking them into the ground.

The Gengar cackled with laughter, then advanced on Colors. The Braviary did his best to stand, but ultimately failed and slumped back down against the tree. Sparky and Brimstone watched as the Gengar, sensing an easy kill, surrounded Colors. The elderly Gengar stepped forward and raised a hand.

"READY!"

They all prepared shadow balls to fire at Colors. Brimstone and Sparky gasped, quickly climbing to their feet.

"Colors!" They both shouted in union.

"AIM!"

The Gengar all took dead aim at Colors, who gazed up and let out a gasp.

Sparky, acting on pure instinct, used Quick Attack, trying to get to Colors before they could finish him off.

Too late.

"Colors! NOOOO!!"

"FIRE!!"

Colors watched, as though in slow motion, as the dozens of shadow balls flew in his direction. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, bracing himself for what was coming.

But it never came. Brimstone managed to fly in and grab Colors just in the nick of time, narrowly avoiding the shadow balls, which all hit the tree, blasting away the bottom of it.

"Alright, Brimstone!" Sparky cheered. The Gengar all turned to look at him. One of them pointed at him.

"There's the chosen one! Get him! Get him NOW!!" He shouted.

"Oh yeah? Have a taste of this!" Sparky shouted, before charging forward and Iron Tailing the tree, causing it to fall in the direction of the Gengar, who all screamed in terror.

"SCRAMBLE!!" One of them shouted, before diving aside. Seconds later, the Gengar had all scattered like cockroaches, just as the tree flew into the ground with a thundering crash, crushing several Gengar below it who weren't fast enough to get away.

"Nice job, Sparky! Now let's get out of here!" Brimstone said, flying down low enough for Sparky to hop onto his back. Holding Colors, Brimstone then rose high into the sky, dodging more shadow balls along the way. One shadow ball came close to hitting Colors again, but Sparky was able to deflect it with Iron Tail.

The elderly Gengar who had fired it grunted in disbelief as he was hit by his own attack, knocking him stupid. Sparky laughed out loud.

"Tell Darkmoon that Sparky sends his worst!" Sparky shouted at the surviving Gengar, before Brimstone sped off at incredible speeds toward the opposite side of the forest. They were gone in seconds. The Gengar below howled in rage. Their target had somehow managed to elude them again.

High in the sky, Sparky then noticed they were heading away from their village.

"Brimstone, where are we going? The village is back that way!" Sparky said, pointing back toward Mt. Squirtle. Brimstone adjusted his grip on Colors in order to make sure he didn't drop him.

"We're to close to Alpha's village. If we go back there, they'll just follow us and attack our home. We gotta head somewhere else until the heats off. No pun intended." Brimstone replied, though he couldn't help but chuckle to himself. That battle WAS pretty heated!

"But where are we going?" Sparky asked, curious about where they were going with their wounded passenger.

"Tribe Delta. They're closest." Brimstone answered, lowering his altitude so he could follow the river, which lead straight through the entire region all the way to the ocean, where Tribe Delta was located.

Colors groaned in pain. This was going to be a LONG trip for him.

"Sir Brimstone, could you kindly not leave me hanging here like a salami?" The old Braviary asked through gritted teeth, to which Brimstone just shook his head.

"No can do, Colors. You're to banged up to fly by yourself. Just enjoy the ride." The Charizard replied.

"I would, if I wasn't getting light headed from blood loss..." Colors replied, who was beginning to look slightly pale. Sparky noticed that his feathers were also losing a lot of their color.

"He's got a point, Brimstone. He's not gonna last long in his current condition. You better pick up the pace!" Sparky warned, keeping a firm eye on Colors.

"I'll try, but no guarantees!" Brimstone replied, as he tried to fly faster, narrowly avoiding a wooden bridge with several people on it.

Back in the forest, many of the Gengar were attempting to evaluate the situation, while several of them turned to the elderly Gengar who have been hit by his own move. One ran up to him.

"Lord Nightside! Are you OK!?" He asked the elderly Gengar, helping him to his feet. The elderly Gengar, Nightside, threw him aside.

"DO I LOOK LIKE I'M ALRIGHT!? THAT BRAT JUST KNOCKED ME STUPID WITH MY OWN ATTACK!!" Nightside bellowed, causing all the other Gengar to cower in fright. If he was well-known for one thing, it was getting other Pokemon to shut up.

He observed the scene around him. Many of his number were dead, and the area looked as if the world's biggest fire blast had hit it. Trees laid scattered all over the place.

Then he spotted the dead Pokemon Trainer. He grinned evilly, an idea forming in his mind. Pokemon raised by Trainers were usually very powerful, weren't they?

"Get her Pokemon. We'll take them back to Darkmoon and use them against our foes." Nightside instructed. Two Gengar quickly ran over and grabbed her bag, searching for her Pokemon team. One Gengar approached Nightside.

"How can Darkmoon convince her Pokemon of anything? They probably saw their Trainer getting murdered!" He asked, clearly confused about what Nightside was planning to do. The old Gengar just chuckled.

"Believe me, I've got some plans for how to convince them. And if I can't, Darkmoon probably will." He said darkly, clearly pleased with this new plan of his. And if he was correct, and if he played his cards right, Darkmoon would have six powerful generals for his army very soon.

"What about the body?" Another Gengar asked. Nightside grinned again.

"Bring her, too. I got something EXTRA special in mind for her. Something that, at least, will keep the humans off our trail for awhile." He instructed. His henchmen wasted no time in doing their job, picking up the young Trainers limp body and carrying her behind Nightside.

\- TRIBE DELTA'S VILLAGE -

It had been at least a month since Sparky was last here at Tribe Delta's village. Located in a large cove within a cave next to the sea, it was truly a beautiful place. A large waterfall from the river that led here from Tribe Alpha fed water into a sparkling lake, which ran out through an underground tunnel into the ocean. An opening in the top of the cave provided light for everybody on the ground floor, which was roughly the size of an SUV. Brightly lit crystals, preserved, collected and brought here by Hydroman, provided light for everywhere else. The cove itself was 3 stories tall and as big and wide as the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball stadium, meaning it was perfect for the construction of Tribe Delta's village. Like Tribe Alpha, many of the buildings resembled various objects, such as Pokeballs, or the heads of famous Pokemon. Rocky walkways along the walls allowed for more buildings to be built along the villages second and third floors, or "levels", as they were often referred too, with level one being the ground floor. The main entrance could be sealed in the event an attack or a human happen to show up, and two Gyradose usually stood guard in two locomotive-size lakes on either side of the entrance. A flower garden with several palm trees was positioned on a small alcove next to the waterfall, which was where Tulips house was built. A wooden stage similar to Brimstone's was positioned in the middle of the villages ground level, where Tulip gave speeches and the morning news. Overall, it was a very beautiful place.

Brimstone flew in though the overhead opening, casting a large shadow over the ground level of the alcove. Everyone turned to look up, and cheered when they saw it was Brimstone, Colors and Sparky. Tulip immediately noticed that Colors was badly injured.

"Brimstone, down here!" She called. Brimstone quickly flew down to where Tulip was standing. She had been in the middle of giving a speech to the village when Brimstone interrupted.

"Sorry to barge in unannounced like this, but we've got a problem." The old Charizard quickly explained in a highly upset tone, cutting right to the chase. He motioned to Colors. "Darkmoons at it again. He triggered a gigantic explosion in the forest near Tribe Alpha. It crippled Colors here, killed a Pokemon Trainer, and lured us into a heated battle."

Tulip gasped in shock, her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. The assembled Pokemon, who couldn't hear what Brimstone was saying, started whispering among themselves, wondering what was happening.

"WHAT!? You're sure!?" She asked in surprise. She had heard of Trainers being killed by this war before, mainly due to their curiosity. But she had never before heard of an organized attack such as this.

"It's true. And I'm pretty sure their intentions for doing it were to lure me out into the open." Sparky said, turning away from Tulip. He was trying his best to forget about that gruesome sight. That poor young girl, cut down before her prime by Darkmoons madness...

Tulip hung her head in sorrow.

"I'm so sorry to hear that, Sparky. It seems Darkmoons willing to do anything to get to you. Even hurting innocent humans..." She said to Sparky, before turning her attention to Brimstone and Colors. "Take Colors to the infirmary, Brimstone. I need a word with Sparky."

Brimstone nodded, before flying off toward the infirmary, taking Colors with him. Sparky turned to Tulip, a confused look in his eyes.

"What do you mean, you need a word with me?" He asked, to which Tulip just shrugged.

"I just needed an excuse to hold you back. I need to address the village on this subject, and I would like for you to say something as well." She replied, causing Sparky's eyes to widen slightly.

"W-What!? Say something to t-them!?" He stammered. Speaking to hundreds of Pokemon on a speech and news platform, or podium, always made him horribly nervous, him being the chosen one and all.

Tulip just smiled at him.

"It's alright. You'll be fine. Just follow my lead." She said. She then turned to face the crowd, who had finally stopped whispering among themselves. Tulip cleared her throat.

"Everyone, it has come to my attention that something terrible has happened. I have just received word from Brimstone and Sparky of Tribe Alpha that Darkmoon is once again on the attack." She began, earning light gasps of shock from the crowd. "A massive explosion, triggered no doubt by Darkmoon, tore a large hole in the ground of the massive forest south of Tribe Alpha's village, causing the deaths of many innocent Pokemon, the destruction of countless plant life, and the crippling injuries of that Braviary you just saw. But most shockingly of all, a young Pokemon Trainer was caught in the explosion, ending her life." There was a massive reaction from the crowd. Many let out loud, horrified gasps, while some Pokemon screamed in terror. Tulip had to call for silence. Once the crowd was quiet, she continued.

"Brimstone and Sparky, upon witnessing the explosion from the outskirts of their village, went to investigate, and were attacked by a hoard of Gengar, under the command of Nightside, one of Darkmoons most trusted and powerful generals. They managed to escape, but there is no doubt that Darkmoon is up to something again. And he's obviously after Sparky again." She explained, motioning to Sparky, who was standing next to her. He just looked around nervously.

"And now, I would like Sparky to come forward and say a few things." She concluded, before backing away from the podium, motioning Sparky to take her place. The crowd cheered as he stepped forward. He cleared his throat nervously. He was not comfortable doing this at all.

"Wow. Just wow. That's all I can say right now." He started, doing his best to keep his voice straight. He looked back at Tulip, who gave him a firm nod of approval, encouraging him to keep going. He let out a breath and looked back at the crowd.

"Today's just been crazy, you know? First my best friend ends up in the infirmary for misusing Volt Tackle, then my childhood rival gets in over his head and tries to fight me, almost getting himself killed in the process, and then this craziness!" He exclaimed, sawing the air with his hand to emphasize his points. He then let out a sigh. "Some days, I swear being the chosen one isn't all it's made out to be. Especially on days like today."

The crowd was silent. Then a young Eevee in the crowd spoke up.

"But it isn't like you ASKED to be the chosen one." She said, to which Sparky just sighed again.

"That's true. I never did ask to be put in such an important role, to be the one who would defeat Darkmoon and bring peace back to our world. But here I am. And I'll have to live with that for the rest of my life." He told the crowd, who, again, remained silent. Tulip wished they would do something aside from stand there and watch Sparky in silence.

He wasn't sure if it was the words of the young Eevee, or the nervous feeling he had in his heart that did it, but at that moment, Sparky had some unpleasant memories flashing back to him. The night he lost his parents, which was very brief and vague in his mind due to his age at the time. The night Brimstone told him what happened to his parents. The night he learned he was destined to destroy Darkmoon. The day he first fought with Chopper. His first encounter with Darkmoons minions. The time Foredawns friend was murdered before their very eyes.

It made him want to cry. To break down and run away. He never wanted any of this. It was all dumped on top of him like ugly on a Garbodor.

But then he remembered the many good parts of his life. His first time meeting Zappa. The day he learned just how powerful he was. The day he waited in pure excitement at the training grounds to learn his moves of choice. His first time bringing down one of Darkmoons generals, and discovering he was very good at it. The day he joined up with the village patrol to help defend his home. Or the day Brimstone told him that he would like him to take his place as village leader after his death, much to Sparky's shock and surprise.

He couldn't deny that he was, in fact, the chosen one of legend, a title handed to him unwillingly, rather forced upon him, and he would have to live with that forever looming over his head. But that didn't mean he couldn't have fun along the way to help ease the burden.

Besides, nobody could argue with just how powerful he was at his age, which was the stuff of legends!

Sparky then raised his head, feeling the nervousness disappearing, to be replaced by sheer determination.

"I've experienced things many Pokemon haven't. I've suffered losses many haven't at very tender ages. And I know just how powerful Darkmoon and his army is." He said boldly, his voice growing more confident. "But I'm not afraid. I'm not the same helpless child I was all those years ago, when I lost my parents."

The crowd could see the Pikachu's confidence growing.

"I'm grown up now, and I've grown strong. And I'm positive that very soon, sooner then many of us think, I'll be strong enough to face Darkmoon fairly! And I'll make him pay for all the suffering he's put us through, and all the evil he's unleashed upon our world!" He declared proudly, raising a fist into the air. The crowd exploded in cheers and applause. Tulip just smiled in joy. Sparky had gone from the little infant Pichu she had seen fifthteen years ago to a competent fighter who was ready to bring peace back to their world. And she was proud of him.

Brimstone must have been, too, for Tulip saw him standing in the doorway of the infirmary, smiling happily. He obviously had overheard Sparky. He then motioned for Tulip to come over, before disappearing into the infirmary again.

Tulip tapped on Sparky's shoulder and quickly told him Brimstone wanted to see them. He nodded to her as she stepped forward to address the crowd.

"Brimstone of Tribe Alpha has requested an audience with myself and Sparky. Rest assured, this situation will be dealt with. I will have more to say later when we learn more about this newest attack. And three cheers for Sparky, the chosen one!" She shouted, causing the crowd to cheer again.

"Sparky! Sparky! Sparky!" They chanted loudly, causing Sparky to blush as he and Tulip left the podium and made their way to the infirmary.

Brimstone smiled at them as soon as they entered. He patted Sparky on the back.

"Nice job, Sparky. Way to keep their spirits high after this latest attack. Goodness knows if we let the four tribes moral fall to far, we'll end up with more trouble on our hands then we already have." He told Sparky, who was looking over at Colors. The Braviary was fast asleep on a bed nearby, his injuries bandaged up and his wing in a sling.

"How's he doing?" He asked, worried about Colors condition. He had taken an awful beating. Brimstone just smiled.

"Don't worry. The nurse fixed him up really good. Though he's going to have to stay out of the sky for a while. His wings busted up to high heaven." The Charizard explained. Tulip smiled as well.

"He's more then welcome to stay here until he's ready to fly again. We've got to look out for each other, after all." She told the two. Brimstone nodded to her, as if saying "thanks".

Sparky looked up at Brimstone again.

"Brimstone, I know this is going to sound crazy, but after this latest attack by Darkmoon, I don't know if we can keep the four villages safe for much longer. This one happened WAY to close to home for comfort, and I'm afraid next time, we won't be so lucky with the outcome." He told the Charizard, causing him to stop and think a moment. Tulip paused to think as well.

"You got a point there, Sparky. If this war keeps up much longer, one of the villages is going to end up deep-fried. And I'm willing to bet you guys anything we haven't heard the end of that Trainers death. The FBI launched a huge investigation the last time a Trainer died to our war, and it was half a mile from Omegas village. We had one heck of a hard time trying to keep the village secret with those humans sniffing around for clues." Brimstone said, remembering last month's death of a Trainer near Lavender Town. "Trying to cover up this one's going to be a nightmare."

"No kidding." Sparky replied. What he said next, however, neither of them were prepared for. "I think it's about time we started taking the fight right to Darkmoon himself."

Brimstone and Tulip weren't expecting that. They both gave him perplexed looks.

"Sparky, are you sure? Do you really think you're strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Darkmoon?" Brimstone asked. Sparky just nodded at him firmly.

"The longer we delay, the more time he has to find us and destroy us. I say the sooner, the better." The Pikachu replied. Brimstone thought about that for a second, then chuckled.

"Your something else, you know. Darkmoon makes legendary Pokemon like Mewtwo quail and quiver in fear, and here you are, claiming your ready to face him head-on. Not many Pokemon nowadays can make claims like that, Sparky." He told Sparky, who just scratched the back of his head and laughed. Tulip laughed, too.

"What can I say? I'm speechless! He left that crowd cheering his name the whole way over here." She said to the others, making them both smile. Sparky really left an impression on the tribes this time. And amid his usual nervousness when it came to speaking to large crowds, to, no less.

Brimstone then frowned, as something came to mind.

"That's right. None of us know where Darkmoons lair is. He keeps it top secret." The Charizard mentioned. But Sparky knew they couldn't just wait around until Darkmoon decided to unleashed more mayhem on the world. They had to start tracking down his lair now, while his suspicions of their plan slept.

"We'll have to start looking right away, then. The only way we're going to find that Rayquazas lair is to search high and low for it. It's gotta be out there somewhere." Sparky told the two leaders. They looked at each other and nodded in approval.

Tulip then cleared her throat.

"I'm way ahead of you there, Sparky. I've been assembling a team of Tailow scouts to search for Darkmoons lair for a while now. I think they're just about ready to start looking." She told them, before taking a sideways glance at Colors. Seeing that he was fine, she then continued. "With any luck, they'll be able to find a lead on Darkmoons whereabouts. Then we can destroy that monster and bring peace back to our world."

"That's good. At least we have a plan on how to find him. That's a start." Brimstone said. Tulip then turned back toward the entrance.

"I'm off now to send a message to the other tribe leaders, and to send out the Tailow to start the search. Be safe, friends." She told the two, before leaving the infirmary and heading off in the direction of her house.

Brimstone and Sparky watched her go, then looked at each other.

"I think we better get back to Tribe Alpha now. The villagers need to know what's going on." Brimstone told Sparky. The Pikachu nodded.

Sparky then climbed on Brimstone's back, and within seconds, they were out of the village and on their way back to Tribe Alpha. They had to get home and see how everyone was doing. And now that those Gengar were more then likely long gone, they could see just how much damage Darkmoons forces had inflicted.

\- TRIBE ALPHA, NEAR THE VILLAGE -

On the way to Alpha's village, Brimstone and Sparky stopped at the battle site once again. All the Gengar were now gone, so the pair could survey the aftermath of the battle.

It was pure destruction. Trees everywhere were badly damaged or toppled over entirely. Craters the size of motorcycles littered the ground. The spot where the Koffing had exploded was charred black. A large pool of blood was all that remained of the poor Pokemon Trainer. Dead Gengar littered the ground every which way, among several variants of bird-type and bug-types that had gotten caught in the conflict.

Wait a minute...

"HUH!?" Sparky exclaimed, running over to where the Trainer had been lying an hour ago.

Her body was gone.

Disappeared.

"Hey, Brimstone!" He called, getting the Charizards attention, who had been surveying a row of five collapsed trees. He came over to where Sparky was calling him.

"What is it?" He asked upon reaching Sparky, who just gave him a most bewildered look.

"That Trainer from before. Her bodies gone!" Sparky quickly explained, causing Brimstones eyes to widen.

"What!?" He asked, bewildered himself, before stepping over and taking a look for himself. No dead body. Just a pool of crimson liquid.

"Where did she go?" Sparky wondered. Brimstone had suddenly turned slightly pale.

"I don't know, Sparky, but I don't like this one bit." He said, suddenly finding himself wishing he was still in Tribe Delta's village.


	5. Chapter 4: Battle Atop Mt Squirtle

"And so, there you have it. Darkmoon is once again on the attack, and we've no idea what he's up to this time. However, we firmly believe that the time is fast approaching for us to take a stand and attack his lair, hopefully destroying him and ending this war!" Brimstone said loudly to the crowd who were assembled in front of his announcement stage. Sparky, who was standing next to him, smiled happily as the crowd began to cheer loudly. They were clearly supporting this recent move to stop Darkmoon once and for all.

Brimstone and Sparky had came back to the village immediately following the discovery of the Pokemon Trainers disappearance. Brimstone assembled the entire village and gave a speech on where he and Sparky were, what happened, and why he and Sparky had looks on their faces equal to that of someone about to head off to war.

Of course, Sparky had come forward and given his speech, the same one he gave at Tribe Delta's village, minus the saddened, nervous part, and even gave it some extra gusto when he noticed Zappa was in the crowd, her midsection wrapped up in bandages. He wasn't sure if he was seeing things, but Zappa kept looking at him with a strange sparkle in her eyes, and was visibly trying not to swoon when Sparky boldly declared that he would return peace to their world, his fist held high and proud in the air.

That, or she was trying not to pass out. Sparky couldn't tell. He just hoped he wouldn't end up having to carry her back to the infirmary.

Someone standing outside the village might have thought some sort of eruption had occurred; The cheering was so loud Brimstone had to call for silence.

"Rest assured, we will find Darkmoon! And when we do, we will defeat him, and bring peace back to our world! Thank you! That is all for today!" Brimstone said loudly, and as he and Sparky made their way back into the Charizards house, the crowd burst into cheers again.

Zappa dislodged herself from the crowd and followed along after them.

"Sparky, that speech of yours gets better every time I hear it!" Brimstone said happily, clearly pleased with how the announcement speech had went. It helped to restore the people's morale in these troubling times.

"Yes, your part was terrific, Sparky!" Zappa cried, a super happy smile on her face. Sparky turned to her, now looking slightly worried.

"Are you alright, Zappa? You cut yourself pretty good earlier." He asked her, to which she just giggled.

"I'm fine, Sparky. Just a little cut is all. I was more exhausted then anything. Those Volt Tackles take a lot out of you." She said, causing Sparky to give her a quizzical look.

"Well, Volt Tackle DOES hit you with recoil when you use it, so if you don't have good stamina like me, it'll end up knocking the wind out of you, more effectively then a Close Combat to the chest." He explained to her, all the while keeping an eye on her in case something happened.

Brimstone, who had been standing by listening to the two, walked over and put a hand on Zappas shoulder, causing her to look up at him.

"I understand why you did it, Chopper deserved it for all I care, but that WAS very reckless of you. What if that tree branch had impaled and killed you? It would have dealt a devastating blow to us all, especially Sparky." He told her, causing her to frown sadly. He gave her a somber look before continuing. "Next time Chopper does something like that, just zap him with Thunder or let me deal with him. He'll think twice before crossing me again, after that stunt he pulled on Sparky earlier today..." He growled, feeling his anger level rising.

Zappa gave him a confused look, before looking back at Sparky.

"I thought that was Chopper I saw in the infirmary, covered in bandages. What happened, Sparky?" She asked him, to which he just shook his head.

"I'll explain later." He told her, causing her to pout.

"Aww, come on! I wanna know now!" She whined, causing Sparky to laugh and launch himself at her, sending both of them into the ground, laughing.

"I said later, Zappa!" He said in a dominant tone, causing her to laugh playfully.

"Hey, take it easy! Another lunge like that and I'll have to get new bandages!" She complained, as they both stood up, still laughing. Brimstone just chuckled at them.

 _"Still as playful as they were when they were children... in many ways, they still are."_

Brimstone then cleared his throat loudly, causing both of them to turn to face him. He looked down at Sparky.

"Well, Sparky, I know you're eager to go out and defeat Darkmoon, but there are a few things that's going to have to happen first." He explained to the Pikachu, to which he simply nodded.

"That's right. And first and foremost on the list is to actually find where his lair is. We can't beat him if we can't even locate him." Sparky said, as Zappa just stood in place, deep in thought about something.

"We've also got to make a plan for what to do when we get there. How much defense is he going to have? What types of Pokemon are we going to face, and how many? Are there going to be booby-traps to worry about? Exactly how strong is Darkmoon himself? If we just run in swinging without a plan, it'll end in disaster." Brimstone read off a list of questions he had in his mind about this assault on Darkmoon himself. "Not to mention we have to put a stop to any attacks or evil, sick, twisted plans he comes up with prior to then. The more victories he takes, the more difficult he'll be to defeat."

Sparky had been wondering that, too.

"Well, we better get started, then." Sparky said, but Brimstone shook his head.

"It's already too late to stop his last attack. We'll have to wait until he launches another one." Brimstone said, which made Sparky give a disappointed look. Zappa stepped forward.

"I don't know about you guys, but I think Darkmoons got plans for that Pokemon Trainer, especially since her body supposedly disappeared after your encounter with those Gengar. Not to mention it isn't every day that a human dies because of our war." She said, an extremely worried look on her face. "We haven't heard the end of this."

"That's what I was thinking. The Trainer was already dead, what would Darkmoon want with her body? Unless he has enough of a heart left to deliver her to the humans so she can have a proper funeral." Sparky thought aloud. Zappa just scoffed loudly.

"Darkmoon? A heart? You're insane. He's as heartless as a Graveler who's missing his heartstone." She remarked. Sparky just let out a low laugh.

"You're right there. He wrote the book on bad, after all." The Pikachu mentioned.

Brimstone, who had been keeping quiet, finally decided to speak up.

"Well, until we get a lead on Darkmoons location, or until he strikes again, we can't take much action against him without arousing suspicion. Tulips scouts will already have much suspicion around them as it is." The Charizard pointed out. Sparky had to admit, he had a point. They couldn't act out against Darkmoon to soon. They would have to let him make the first move.

\- SUMMIT OF MT. SILVER -

And make the first move, he most certainly would.

For at that very moment, Darkmoon was high atop Mt. Silver, on the exact same spot that Pokemon Trainers Red and Gold had their amazing Pokemon battle. He was busy praising Nightside the Gengar for bringing him not only six very powerful Pokemon he could easily bend to serve his cause, but their Trainer as well, whom could be used to cause some trouble for their enemies.

"Well done, Nightside. Whatever would I do without you?" Darkmoon praised, in a very low, menacing voice that reminded whoever heard it of dark tunnels.

Nightside cackled happily.

"We only expected to harm that stupid Braviary enough to put him out of action for a while. We never expected to end up killing a Trainer and capturing her Pokemon to, as well as luring two of our foes, the chosen one included, out into the open." Nightside said proudly, before dropping his voice slightly and speaking in a disappointed tone. "I only wish we could have killed all three of those bozo's as well. That would have made this day perfect."

Darkmoon sighed. He was disappointed as well.

"It is unfortunate that your company failed to destroy our enemies. But pretty soon, they'll wish they'd died along with that Trainer. Her Pokemon will make grand generals for my army, once I've had them "Fixed" so that they're only loyal to me." Darkmoon said, before cackling evilly. Nightside grinned.

"It was an honor to have been of help, master." The Gengar said proudly, bowing before Darkmoon. He then looked at the Trainers corpse in front of him. "Er, what shall I do with this?" He asked.

Darkmoon simply shrugged.

"I don't care. Just get her out of here before she starts to stink up the place. Humans smell most revolting when they've died, you know." Darkmoon said, making the Gengar grin even more.

"At once, master. I've a little something SPECIAL in mind for her, something that should, at the very least, keep the humans off our trail for a while." He explained, before picking up the girls corpse and carrying her into the cave and out of sight. Darkmoon had a wicked smile on his face.

"Hmm, I wonder what he's got in mind. This I have to see." He said silently to himself, before taking flight and silently moving down the mountain like a giant black snake back toward his lair. "I love being evil."

\- TRIBE ALPHA'S VILLAGE, 2 HOURS LATER -

Sparky was patrolling around the village again, this time in the northern part of the village boundaries, close to the base of Mt. Squirtle. He was hidden by the thin line of trees that made up the villages northern boundaries, which stretched along the base of Mt. Squirtle. The large ring of trees surrounding the spot where the village was located made it very easy to tell where the village boundaries were, even if the trees themselves thinned out the further away from the actual village you were. It was hard to believe that the humans hadn't managed to find this place. Then again, the biggest trees were located in the middle of the ring, where the village was, and they did a good job of hiding it from above while allowing a modest amount of sunlight to come down.

Sparky was still deep in thought over what he, Zappa ( who was sleeping under a tree nearby ), and Brimstone had been talking about before. He was honestly on edge about his decision to hunt down and defeat Darkmoon. He knew it wouldn't be easy; Darkmoon was said to be strong enough to be able to turn legendaries toward his cause. And though he knew the legendary Pokemon were smart enough to turn their backs on Darkmoon should he happened to turn up, Sparky was secretly hoping he wouldn't end up having to face any legendaries.

 _"But then again..."_ Sparky thought aloud to himself. _"...Darkmoons only going to keep getting stronger and keep causing mayhem the longer he's allowed to do as he wants. The sooner I bring him down, the better."_

And it was at that point that a horrible sound reached his ears.

 **"AAAAHHHHHH!!"**

It sounded like someone was screaming at the top of their lungs, and it sounded close.

Zappa snapped awake. It had obviously been loud enough to wake her up. She looked around in fright. She was always a bit jumpy when her sleep was disturbed.

"Huh!? What is that!? What's going on!?" She asked, finally looking over at Sparky, who was looking in the direction of the scream. It had come from the summit of Mt. Squirtle. It must have been REALLY loud to have carried all the way down to the bottom and woken Zappa up; She was usually a pretty heavy sleeper, able to sleep her way through a raging battle.

"That's what I'm going to find out." Sparky declared, before using his Quick Attack to dash his way up the side of the mountain, which was slopped at exactly 9 degrees, just short of straight down. As long as a slope wasn't a perfect 10 degree, straight down drop, Sparky could scale it with Quick Attack or Volt Tackle, no problem.

Upon reaching the top, Sparky saw who had screamed, and why.

A young Eevee, no older than the one he had seen in Tribe Delta's village, who was wearing a small red ribbon in her hair, was lying on her back, her eyes closed, crying her eyes dry. She had blood pouring out of her stomach from where something had struck her. Hard.

A teenage Sandshrew stood over her, grinning in satisfaction. He had obviously slashed her with his claws, cutting open her gut. It must have been very painful for her. His claws were dripping with her blood.

He then turned to face Sparky, who had a horrified expression on his face. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. A young Eevee on the ground, dangerously close to a very high cliff, her lifeblood forming a puddle around her, and her teenage attacker starring at him with demonic, bloodthirsty eyes.

Then Sparky realized something.

 _This is Darkmoons doing!_ _I'm sure of it!_

He stepped forward toward the Sandshrew, who was eyeing him intently.

"Ah, another fresh victim." He said, before cackling insanely. Sparky just gave him a cold stare.

"I see your so far under Darkmoons control, you're having a hard time deciding what's real and what isn't. Tell me, how much did he have to torture you to turn you into this?" Sparky asked, causing the Sandshrew to look up into the sky with a blissful look on his face.

"Heaven..." The Sandshrew half said, half breathed, causing Sparky to stop moving and stare at him as if he were an alien from another planet. The Sandshrew then spun around like a top, laughing crazily. "One, Two, Three, Seven. All cute girls go to heaven!" He sang happily, causing Sparky's palm to meet his forehead.

"If that were true, there'd be none of us left down here..." He grumbled to himself. The Sandshrew suddenly stopped, now with a demonic look on his face akin to that of Sonic.EXE, which caused Sparky to lower his upper eye lids. "You sure love to smile, don't you?"

All the while, Sparky kept looking at the Eevee, who was slowly growing weaker. Sparky knew she wouldn't live long if he didn't act.

"YES!!!" The crazed Sandshrew screamed, which caught Sparky off-guard. He cringed as the Sandshrew suddenly started jittering around, as though he were having a seizure.

"What the..!?" Sparky asked, clearly confused as to what this Sandshrew was doing.

 _"This guy's been reading way to many scary stories."_ He thought to himself.

 ** _"MURDER! DEATH! BLOOD! KILL! DESTROY! BLOOD! NIGHTSIDE! DARKMOON! BLOOD!"_** He was screaming at the top of his lungs. "I foresee me becoming his most loyal and trusted servant in my future!"

Sparky's attention immediately snapped to the two names he had mentioned.

Nightside and Darkmoon.

That was enough for Sparky. He couldn't risk this maniac causing anymore trouble so close to the village, especially with a badly wounded Eevee in the area bleeding to death. If he was going to save her, he had to act NOW.

He let out a loud growl, and assumed a fighting stance.

"Your future will have to wait. You just ran out of time, Sir Screams-A-Lot!" Sparky spat, immediately getting the attention of the Sandshrew, who lunged himself at Sparky.

"BLOOOOOOD!!" The ground-type roared, as he closed in on Sparky, only to crash face-first into a rock as Sparky jumped aside to dodge the attack.

Sparky then went at the Sandshrew with Iron Tail, but the Sandshrew managed to avoid it. With a quick and deadly Fury Swipes, he sent Sparky flying back, almost off the edge of the cliff.

The Sandshrew pounded his chest, before singing a single, low-pitched note like an opera singer. Sparky quickly jumped to his feet.

 _"Darn, this guy's pretty strong. To strong to be trained by just Darkmoon."_ The Pikachu thought to himself. He quickly considered his options. His electric attacks would have little effect on a Sandshrew, and Quick Attack wouldn't do very much.

He had only one viable option for bringing down this foe.

The Sandshrew just stood there, watching Sparky, still and straight as a statue, head cocked and with a giant grin on his face. Sparky just sighed at him again.

"Jeez, if your brains were any slower, you'd be a Muk by now." Sparky said, shortly before the Sandshrew lunged at him again.

However, the Sandshrew didn't see where Sparky was standing, and when Sparky jumped aside to dodge the attack, the ground type ended up flying right off the side of the cliff, screaming bloody murder as he went down. It was at least seven hundred feet to the bottom. There was no way he'd survive. Sparky wiped his brow, watching the Sandshrew go until he was out of sight.

"Phew. I'm glad THAT'S over." He said to himself, before turning his attention to the young Eevee. She was still on the ground, trying her best to hold her blood in. She needed medical attention immediately, or she would die.

Sparky didn't know if she lived in their village. He didn't know if she was a wandering Eevee who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he didn't care. All he knew is that she needed help.

He quickly ran over and picked her up. She was incredibly light. Carrying her to the village wouldn't be an issue at all.

"Don't worry, I got you. You're going to be alright. Just hang in there!" He told her, before turning around to make his way back down the mountain.

And nearly coming face-to-face with the crazed Sandshrew, who was flying directly towards him.

"YIKES!" Sparky shouted, as he dove aside to dodge the attack. He set the poor Eevee down and jumped over her. He turned to face his enemy and stood ready. He guessed this enemy was going to be harder to defeat then he thought.

The Sandshrew was lunging at Sparky very quickly, and the Pikachu was having a hard time avoiding all his attacks.

 _"Man, this guy's relentless!"_ He thought to himself, pausing to see where the Sandshrew was.

Big mistake.

The Sandshrew came in and hit the Pikachu with Earthquake, which hit him like a freight train. He was left lying on the ground, gasping for breath.

 _"You complete and utter idiot! You left yourself wide open to an attack from an enemy who has a type advantage over you!"_ He screamed mentally to himself, frustrated he had made such a dumb mistake.

He then noticed the Sandshrew lunging at him again and gasped. He was going in for the kill!

 _"No time for anything fancy...!"_ Sparky thought to himself, before back flipping on the spot and to his feet, managing to hit the Sandshrew into the air with Iron Tail at the same time.

"Well, what do you know? He fell for the old backwards Iron Tail uppercut trick." Sparky laughed, before charging forward and hitting the Sandshrew again with another Iron Tail. He used every ounce of might he could muster. The Sandshrew flew through the air and smashed into a nearby tree faster then a speeding baseball, where he slid to the bottom and lay there not moving. He was knocked out. Or he was dead. It didn't really matter, as long as he was down for the count.

Sparky wiped his brow again. He was sure his enemy was defeated this time.

"Well, that's that." He said, wiping his hands together and smiling. It had been a good fight, and it left Sparky in a good mood. Minus a couple of bruises.

He then turned back to the Eevee. She needed help quickly, or it was over for her. He dashed over, picked her up, and hurried back down the mountain. He noticed she was very pale and she felt slightly cold to touch. Not a good sign.

After briefly stopping to tell Zappa, who gasped when she saw the wounded Eevee, what had happened and asking her to inform Brimstone about the situation, he hurried off to the village infirmary. With any luck, it wasn't too late, despite the battle delaying him multiple times.

It was easy to see why this building was so important. It was as big as a gas stations parking lot, with plenty of room for the four beds that lined one of the walls. Chopper was lying in one of them, clearly out like a light. Various devices and machines, which they had collected from an abandoned hospital not far away, allowed them to perform various kinds of operations on Pokemon who shows up in bad or critical condition, like the little Eevee Sparky was carrying. A specially designed power crystal, which could last for several weeks on a single charge, kept the machines up and running.

Upon entering, nurse Melody the Jigglypuff was horrified to see Sparky walking inside, carrying a horribly wounded and pale looking Eevee. She rushed over and helped Sparky lower the poor girl into a bed. The Eevees breathing was very ragged, and she was struggling to stay conscious.

"What happened!?" The Jigglypuff asked Sparky. She had never seen anything like this before.

"I was attacked on top of Mt. Squirtle by a Sandshrew. He wounded her badly." He explained, motioning toward the injured Eevee on the bed.

Melody then noticed Sparky's bruises.

"Looks like that Sandshrew roughed you up a fair amount as well. Are you alright?" She asked him. He simply nodded at her.

"I'm fine. Just a couple bruises. I'm more worried about her!" He motioned toward the Eevee. Melody quickly ran to get her medical supplies after the poor girl let out a ragged, half dead cough.

"We gotta act fast or she won't last the hour. Grab this and put pressure on the wound!" She instructed, tossing Sparky a large, damp towel. Sparky caught it easily and pressed down on the Eevees gut hard. She had tears in her eyes.

"H-H-Help me..." She half said, half whispered. Sparky shushed her.

"It's alright, you're safe now. We're going to fix you right up." He reassured her. Her tears made it difficult for her to see who was speaking to her.

"H-huh...?" Was all she could manage to say.

"That's going to be easier said then done, Sparky. She's in really bad shape and she's lost a lot of blood. If one of her major arteries has been severed..." Melody said. She had a point. Sparky didn't know how long he spent fighting off that Sandshrew, but any length of time while this poor Eevee was lying there, losing all of her blood, felt like to long.

"What should we do first?" He asked Melody, who was running back over with some supplies.

"First things first, and that's to stop the bleeding." She instructed, removing the towel that Sparky had been using. The bleeding had pretty much stopped, much to Sparky's surprise, but the Eevee wasn't in the clear yet.

"I better clean all this up. I need to be able to see what I'm doing." She murmured to herself, picking up a damn paper towel and using it to wipe away some of the blood so she could better see the injuries. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Is she going to be OK?" Sparky asked. Melody nodded her head.

"Yes. She's lost a lot of blood, but it looks like no major arteries were cut or damaged. Some stitches and bandages, and a lot of rest, and she should be fine." Melody explained, getting a suture kit ready to use. Sparky's eyes widened when he saw the pointed end.

"Stitches, huh... shouldn't we put her under first? It's going to hurt a lot, and I think she's suffered enough for one day." He asked her. Melody made an "o" with her mouth, before reaching behind her and grabbing her microphone.

"You better cover your ears, Sparky." She suggested, handing him a pair of earmuffs. Sparky put them on quickly. They shut out sound completely. Melody then looked down at the Eevee.

"Don't worry, dear. You're just going to take a little nap. I promise you'll be all fixed up when you wake up, alright?" She said in a soothing tone, which Sparky couldn't hear, so as not to frighten the young girl, before lifting the microphone to her mouth and singing a short, soft lullaby.

"' _Little Eevee, little Eevee_ _, Lying_ _on_ _the bed,'_ ' _You've been through a lot today_ , _So_ _rest your tired head.'_ ' _It has been a long hard day_ , _Filled_ _with fear and fright'_ ' _But thanks to our hero Sparky_ , _You_ _will survive the night.'_ ' _Sleep now, little Eevee_ , _Let_ _your fears begone'_ ' _The pain will slowly disappear_ _, So_ _you'll play all day long.'_ ' _Rest now, little Eevee_ _, Let_ _your dreams take flight'_ ' _For when you return from your dreams_ _, You'll_ _be met with delight.'"_ When she finished her song, the Eevee was softly snoring. She was out like a light. Melody lowered the microphone, smiled, and gave Sparky a thumbs up, telling him it was safe to take off the earmuffs.

"Your friend Zappa helped me come up with that lullaby when she was in here earlier today. It really does the trick." The Jigglypuff explained, giggling happily. Sparky just smiled.

"That's just like Zappa." He remarked. "Wish I could have heard it. But I don't want to be spending the rest of the day asleep."

Melody giggled again.

"No, I guess you don't. Especially after what happened atop Mt. Squirtle. It sounds like you and Brimstone have an appointment pretty soon." She told him. He nodded.

"Indeed, we do. That Sandshrew wasn't just there looking for someone to kill. He was one of Darkmoons minions. That Rayquazas up to something, I just know it." Sparky said, before looking down at the sleep Eevee again. "I hope she'll be alright. If she opens those stitches, we might not be able to save her." The Pikachu worried, setting the earmuffs down on a nearby table. But Melody just waved her hand in the air, as of shooing a fly away from her microphone, which she put away.

"She'll be fine. I just have to seal up her injuries." Melody replied, picking up the suture kit again. "That was an honorable thing you did, you know. Risking your neck for her sake."

Sparky just laughed.

"Well, I couldn't just leave her there to die, could I?" Sparky asked. The Jigglypuff giggled again.

"I guess not." She replied.

Large footsteps outside told them Brimstone was coming. Sparky stepped over to the door.

"That's Brimstone. I better go talk to him. Good luck and see you later." He told Melody, waving to her, as he left the Infirmary.

Sure enough, it was Brimstone, with Zappa in tow. They both looked very worried.

"I just received word that you made an emergency rescue atop Mt. Squirtle, Sparky. Where is the young Eevee? Is she in the infirmary?" The Charizard asked. Sparky nodded.

"Yes, Melody's fixing her up right now. It was a pretty close call. Any longer and the poor girl would have died..." Sparky said sadly, causing Zappa to frown as well.

"Excuse me, but I need to check on her and see how she's doing. Tribe leader stuff and all." Brimstone explained, before disappearing into the infirmary. Sparky noticed that Zappa looked completely distraught.

"What is it, Zappa? You look out of it." He asked her, causing her to gasp and look up at him suddenly. She starred at him for several seconds, before lowering her head again.

"Sparky, don't call me crazy or anything, but, but..." She stammered, clearly at a loss for words.

Sparky stepped closer and wrapped her in a hug, which she returned with tears in her eyes.

"It's OK, Zappa, it's OK. Now, tell me what the problem is." He asked softly, taking a step back to look into her eyes, which were still filled with tears.

"Sparky, you probably know this, but... I do have a younger sister. About three years younger then me, who hasn't evolved yet. We were separated as children because of that whole game corner fiasco. I never heard from her again afterwards." She explained, tears still in her eyes. Sparky's ears perked up.

"You mean... you don't think..." He pointed at the entrance to the infirmary, and she nodded.

"Yes, Sparky. I recognized the red ribbon in her hair. It's one of a kind. She was never seen without it." Zappa said, now crying tears of joy. "Sparky, that wasn't any old regular Eevee you saved. You saved my little sister! My only family left in this chaotic world!"


	6. Chapter 5: Late-Night Lambient

Sparky was at a loss for words.

He was hugged and thanked about a hundred times by Zappa for finding and saving her little sister, who Sparky later learned was named "Cupcake". This lead Sparky to wonder where Zappa and her sister Cupcake got their names from. Zappa explained that their mother had wanted them to evolve into Jolteon and Sylveon, so she named them accordingly. Sparky thought the names suited them, even if Cupcake wasn't evolved yet. He wasn't even sure if she knew a fairy type move with which to evolve into Sylveon. But he figured that could be remedied another time. He had more important things on his mind.

Such as his battle with the crazed Sandshrew. After Brimstone came back out of the infirmary and informed Sparky that Cupcake would be fine, he asked Sparky where he might be able to find the Sandshrew he had fought.

It didn't take long for Brimstone to fly to Mt. Squirtle, collect the Sandshrew, and bring him back to the village.

"Looks like he's dead. You must have hit him with enough force to destroy a giant boulder. I wish we could have gotten some information out of him..." The Charizard said grimly, before taking flight again to go dispose of the body.

Needless to say, Sparky was glad when night finally came. It had been a crazy day, filled with everything from confronting his rival, to seeing the other four tribe leaders, to visiting Tribe Delta's village, and even a few big battles along the way! He was ready for some rest.

He didn't have his own house, preferring to stay in the large guard house where all the village patrolmen stayed. He had his own room in the second of its three floors. It was pretty nice. From there, he could see not only the village, but the section of forest that lead down to the river. He had a picture of Zappa in a heart-shaped frame on his bedside table.

He was starring out the window, watching as the rest of the village Pokemon started to make their way back home to turn in for the night. He even saw Chopper walking out of the infirmary, gazing back at the entrance with a deep contempt. He was clearly angry about something, and Sparky had a good idea what it was. He only hoped that it wouldn't lead to Chopper causing any more trouble. The little Machop was in enough trouble with Brimstone as it was.

Speaking of which, Sparky saw Chopper turn and trudge his way miserably to Brimstones house. He remembered that Brimstone had demanded that Chopper come see him as soon as he was out of the infirmary. Sparky figured that Chopper went because he knew how much trouble he was in, and didn't want to risk incurring Brimstones wrath any further. Sparky knew Brimstone could get really nasty when his patience was allowed to hit rock bottom.

"Hopefully it teaches him a lesson. With Zappa's sister here in such a fragile state, we can't afford to have that idiot causing anymore trouble."Sparky thought bitterly, remembering his battle with the Machop. Vengeance for what the little fool had done to Zappa had never tasted so good.

It was at that point that he started to have flashbacks to his younger years. He had had these very same flashbacks several times before, but this time, it came at him out of the blue. This one was from seven years ago.

 _A young Sparky, who had just evolved into Pikachu, was on the Training Grounds, Hotsauce and Brimstone watching as he Volt Tackled a practice dummy over and over again. They were amazed at the power he was showing. Though it was largely untapped, it was simply incredible. Even Brimstone, in all his years, had never seen a Pikachu who gave off as much power as this one at such a tender age._

 _"Just more reason why he's the chosen one" Brimstone thought to himself, thinking back to the prophecy. He didn't notice Sparky volt tackling the training dummy so hard that it shattered to pieces until Hotsauce was cheering for him. Brimstone looked up and laughed. That training dummy was made of solid steel; Even his mighty Fire Blast couldn't destroy it!_

 _"Sparky, what a fantastic display!" Brimstone said happily, as he lumbered over to peer down at young Sparky, who simply looked up at the old Charizard and smiled._

 _"Did I do good?" He asked in a little kids voice, which made Brimstone chuckle._

 _"Yes, I'd say you did." He told the little Pikachu. He then turned to look at Hotsauce, with a look on his face that was asking her 'Should I?'. She nodded at him, and he looked back down at Sparky._

 _He cleared his throat, getting Sparky's attention._

 _"Um, Sparky, could you come with me for a moment? There's someone I want you to meet." He said, before turning away and walking back toward his house. Sparky, curiosity in his eyes, followed after him._

 _Upon entering Brimstones house, Sparky gasped when he saw who was there._

 _A young female Jolteon was there, looking around nervously. She looked to young to be evolved. She was no older then he was!_

 _And as far as Sparky was concerned, she was extremely beautiful._

 _"Sparky, this is Zappa. I found her during one of my trips to Johto. She was separated from her mother a few years back and somehow ended up in Goldenrod Cities game corner, which recently abandoned her. She might have died if I hadn't found her." He explained to Sparky, who was looking at Zappa with a sad look on his face, as if upset that she had lived such a horrible life up 'till now. She noticed him and blushed a little, as if she were shy._

 _"You're probably wondering why she's evolved at such a young age. Well, as I was bringing her here to live with us, we found a discarded Thunderstone near New Bark Town. She took it and almost immediately evolved into a Jolteon. But this makes her a perfect friend for you. You're both young, quick electric types, so I recon you two will get along just fine." He told Sparky, and then he chuckled to himself, clearly satisfied with how his most recent trip to Johto had went, despite his unexpected passenger on his return trip to Tribe Alpha in Kanto._

 _Sparky stepped closer to Zappa, who didn't back away, but instead was watching Sparky curiously._

 _"Um, hello. How are you, miss?" Sparky asked, clearly nervous about speaking to her for the first time. She blushed more darkly and looked away._

 _"I'm fine..." She replied, clearly shy about speaking to Sparky. He came a little closer, a sad look in his eyes._

 _"Is what Brimstone said true? You were separated from your mom and spent years of your life in a stinky arcade?" The little Pikachu asked, causing her to look over at him. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw he was giving her a sad look._

 _"Yeah..." She answered, seemingly about to cry. Sparky felt so sorry for the poor girl. And he thought he had it rough when he lost his parents when he was just a baby! That seemed like NOTHING compared to what she had suffered through!_

 _"Were the other Pokemon mean to you?" Sparky asked, and gasped when he heard her answer._

 _"A couple were... one of them pushed me out of my cage and hurt me really badly." She told him, more tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Sparky looked over at Brimstone with an "ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" look on his face. Young as he was, this shocked him worse then a stray Thunderbolt. And being an electric type, that was saying something! Brimstone gave Sparky an upset look. He wasn't happy, either._

 _Sparky looked back over as she started to cry. He walked up and put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to gasp and look at him. He smiled at her._

 _"Well, don't worry. You're safe now. Brimstones the strongest in Kanto, he won't let anything happen to anyone here, including you." Sparky assured her. "And besides, you got me to be by your side. And after everything you've been through, it looks like you need a friend more then anything. Someone you can count on." He told her, giving her a thumbs up._

 _The little Jolteon was speechless. Never had anyone been so kind to her. She had never had anyone come up and tell her that they would be her friend, and stay by her side through thick and thin. After everything she had been through, it was as if she had died and gone to heaven._

 _Her lower lip trembled, and she quickly turned and wrapped him in a big hug, which he kindly returned. He looked up at Brimstone, who smiled and nodded his head at him, as if agreeing that Zappa needed a close friend to rely on as she got used to her new life in Tribe Alpha's village._

 _This would mark the beginning of a beautiful friendship, for Sparky and Zappa have rarely been seen apart since. Though they're capable of functioning normally when they're apart, they always did their best when they were together. They grew up together, learned to battle together, and eventually became village patrolmen together. And over time, Zappa eventually forgot about her shyness, growing to become more energetic and fun-loving, just like Sparky._

"That was some day, alright." Sparky whispered to himself, bringing him out of this memory, of the day he first met Zappa, his best friend and long-time teammate in the battle against Darkmoon. It was a day he would never forget.

He then noticed Zappa running up to the building. He watched as she shook herself off, and walked inside. He smiled, and left his room to go greet her downstairs.

His eyes widened when he noticed what she was holding.

It was a Level Ball; A very special Pokeball that had a higher chance of working if the wild Pokemon was weaker then the Pokemon the Trainer currently has out battling it. A pure white bottom piece with an orange ring surrounding the bottom half of the top piece, with the upper portion of the top piece being pure black. A small red "V" was visible on the top piece of the ball, which started toward the top of the top piece and extended all the way down to the white button on the front.

"Where did you get that? The river?" He asked her, and she nodded. She opened the ball to peek at the inside.

"Yep. Don't worry, I took it to Brimstone and he disabled its ability to catch Pokemon, so it doesn't work anymore. But we CAN use it for a decoration." She replied, before handing it over to Sparky. "I think it'll look nice in your room, don't you?"

He took the ball and examined it. He had to admit, it DID look nice.

"Yeah, put a chain on it and hang it from my window. It'll look nice there." He said, before closing the ball and putting it aside. "You DID check to make sure a Pokemon wasn't in here, did you?"

"Yep. Brimstone made sure nobody was in there when he disabled it. There's a reason why he tells us to bring all Pokeballs that wash up in the river to him before using them for decoration, you know." She reminded him, thinking back to the one time where a Geodude found an Ultra Ball in the river, and took it to Brimstone, who managed to release the Skitty that was inside.

"Good point." Sparky said. He then remembered something. "Hey, did you get to talk to your sister?"

Zappa nodded happily.

"Yes, she woke up a couple of hours ago and we had a nice, long conversation. We had A LOT to catch up on!" Zappa exclaimed. "We pretty much talked about everything. How we've been, what's happened since the game corner, etcetera." She giggled lightly. She must have enjoyed some quality time with her sister.

"Well, I'm glad I could make it happen. You gotta admit, it was a VERY close call. Any longer dealing with that stupid Sandshrew and she might have bled to death..." Sparky said, and shivered. The thought of watching the little Eevee die from blood loss right in front of him made him sick.

Zappa shivered, too. Clearly, she didn't like the thought any more then he did.

"I'm amazed how well she's taking her near death experience. Melody says that she should be back on her feet within a couple days." Zappa said, making Sparky nod in approval.

"Melody is a highly skilled nurse. She'll take good care of Cupcake while she's recovering." Sparky assured Zappa, causing her to smile sweetly and nod her head.

"Sparky, you didn't have to risk your life to save her, you know. You could have ignored her, thinking she was doomed to bleed to death, and just buried her after she was gone. But you stuck to your guts and saved her life. I'm finally getting to be reunited with Cupcake, my only family left in this world." She said happily, still smiling, before pulling Sparky into a appreciative hug. "Thank you, Sparky. Thank you so much..." She said, for about the hundredth time that day.

Sparky just laughed, and pulled her off of him.

"Hey, what are friends for? Besides, I couldn't just let her die, could I?" He told her, scratching the back of his head. "I'd never forgive myself if I did." He took another look at the Level Ball, before looking back at her.

"My sister was pretty shocked when she learned I had evolved into Jolteon. She almost didn't recognize me. I think she was a little jealous because she hadn't evolved yet." Zappa said, now thinking back to when she had last seen Cupcake. Right before she had been abandoned by the game corner, she figured. She hadn't seen Cupcake since, and firmly believed her to be dead.

"Well, you evolved at a pretty young age, it's only a matter of time before she evolves, too." Sparky said, making Zappa laugh.

"It was a Thunderstone that made me evolve, Sparky. And there isn't a stone that can evolve an Eevee into Sylveon. At least, not that I know of." She told him matter-of-factly. Sparky crossed his arms and sighed.

"Well, however she evolves, it's going to have to wait until she's out of the infirmary. It will most likely require training, and she's in no condition to train right now." Sparky said, and Zappa agreed. Cupcake would have to wait awhile before she could become the Sylveon she had always dreamed of becoming.

Zappa stretched back and yawned loudly.

"I'm going up to bed. G'night, Sparky!" She said, climbing up the stairs to the third floor, where her room was. Sparky watched her go, still smiling. He had the feeling that he had made a huge impact on her life. Though whether or not it rivaled the day they first met was questionable.

Sparky grabbed the Level Ball she had given him and made his way back to his room. He was exhausted, and a good night's sleep seemed like a good idea. He could hear several Hoothoots outside, a sign it was definitely time to turn in.

 _( LATER THAT NIGHT )_

Of course, nobody was able to notice what Nightside was up to. As soon as the clock struck midnight, he went into action.

With a couple of Magmars in tow, and carrying the body of the blonde Pokemon Trainer from before, he made his way into Goldenrod City in Johto. It was true; It WAS the city that never sleeps. Cars motored by in the streets. People were still walking down the sidewalks. Several Pokemon were visible at a nearby Pokemon Center.

It was perfect.

"Heh heh heh... get ready, you two. This is going to be my best act yet!" Nightside said gleefully, causing the two Magmars to laugh.

"I can't wait... this is going to be priceless!" One of them said.

"Darkmoons gonna love this!" The other one said, a wicked grin on his face. "Where do you come up with these ideas, Nightside?"

The Gengar just chuckled.

"Sometimes I'm so smart, I don't even trust myself!" He replied happily, before sneaking his way through the dark alleyway they were currently hidden in, the two Magmars hot on his heels. He stopped just short of the sidewalk and peeked out.

Everyone was at the Pokemon Center. They were clearly having a good time and didn't notice him or the Magmars hiding in the alleyway. Now was their chance.

"Alright, you two." He said, turning to face the Magmars. "Get out there and make some noise. Distract them long enough for me to slip in there and leave our message." He said, motioning to the corpse he was carrying. They both grinned evilly.

"You got it, Nightside!" They both replied, before boldly stepping out of the alleyway. The Gengar watched them go, before quickly making his way up onto the roof of the building next to him. As soon as the coast was clear, he would leap over to the roof of the Pokemon Center, slip the body inside, and take off into the night. Hopefully with both Magmars in tow. It would be a shame if one or both of them got killed, or captured, during this operation; Who would Nightside have left to talk to on the way back to Darkmoons lair?

Several trainers immediately noticed the two Magmars. One trainer pointed at them.

"Look, Magmars!" He had called out, causing all of them to look over. Several pulled out a PokeDex to use. A couple, sensing trouble, reached for their Pokeballs. The two Magmars grinned and each other.

"Hook, line and stinker." The first one said, making the other one chuckle.

"And that's a lot of stinkers." He said to the first, folding his arms. "Ready?"

The first one assumed a fighting position, as did the second. It made the Trainers tense up.

"Ready as I'll ever be." The first Magmar replied. They turned to face each other. "HAVE AT YOU!"

And in a flash, the two took off in a stunning one-on-one duel. The Trainers and their Pokemon could only watch as the two Magmars sent Flamethrowers, Fire Wheels, and Embers all over the place. Though they were aiming for each other, their primary goal was to pull everyone's attention away from the Pokemon Center.

Several vehicles had stopped in the street to watch the battle. It was causing a massive traffic jam that left many angry drivers honking their horns.

"Ready?" The first Magmar shouted, launch a fire wheel at the second, who took the hit hard, but shrugged it off quickly, being a fire type himself.

"Ready. Time for a Smokescreen of historic proportions!" The second shouted back, before using Smokescreen. The first one did the same. It only took a few seconds for the entire area to be filled with blinding smoke, making it difficult to see.

Nightside had to duck several times during the battle, as several fire attacks whizzed past his head like bullets. But he had to admit, the pair were doing their job pretty well. He also wished those Trainers would put their Pokeballs away. The sight of them made him nervous. If he had to rush down there to rescue the Magmars, he would have to forfeit the mission.

Thankfully, none of them made a move toward the Magmars.

"Now's my chance!" He said to himself, before stepping back, and taking a HUGE leap across the street, under the cover of the Smokescreen, and onto the roof of the Pokemon Center. He chuckled and grinned to himself. This was to easy.

The battle below was still raging on. Several police officers had arrived on the scene, though they were utterly baffled at this sudden outbreak of violence between two Magmars. They clearly didn't have Trainers, since there was nobody shouting any commands.

However, several buildings, including the Pokemon Center, were in danger of being struck by a stray attack and being severely damaged, or destroyed, so they had to do something fast.

While they were busy with the fight, Nightside took a piece of paper with a message written on it, pinned it to the front of the young Trainers dress, and slipped her into the Pokemon Center via the skylight, being careful to stay out of sight.

There was a commotion inside that caused several people to run screaming out of the Pokemon Center. Everyone's attention, including the two Magmars, was suddenly on the Pokemon Center.

"SOMEONES BEEN MURDERED! ITS A MURDER! HELP!" A bug catcher screamed, before sprinting away down the street. The Smokescreen had started to disappear. That was Nightside and the Magmars cue to book it.

"Let's go!" One of the Magmars shouted to the other, who nodded in return, before turning and taking off across the street, past the vehicles that were still crammed up on the street, and into the alleyway, which lead to a route back to Kanto. Nightside was hot on their heels, having jumped back across the street. The three were gone in seconds.

It was total pandemonium. The police had to shout into their megaphones for five minutes straight to calm everyone down. When the Smokescreens finally disappeared, they were able to observe the damage. Several buildings had been hit by stray attacks, blowing huge holes in the sides of them. The Pokemon Center itself was relatively unharmed, but the police were still baffled. Why had those two Magmars suddenly decided to have a battle royal right in front of a heavily populated Pokemon Center? Was this just another case of "Wrong place, wrong time", or was there something bigger here that they were missing?

They then went inside the Pokemon Center and noticed the corpse. They ran over and examined it. Several of them had distraught expressions on their faces. Some people who were standing by trembled in fear. The body had come seemingly out of nowhere, and the Trainers who ran screaming from the Pokemon Center didn't help one bit. Nurse Joy, who had been tending a Zigzagoon when the madness started, now stood there in utter shock.

"Looks like she got impaled on something. Three of something, for that matter. She's pale as a sheet, and cold as ice. Like she's been dead for hours." One officer told the others. One of them looked extremely upset.

"She looks no older then thirteen, no older then my son. Who could have done this?" He asked in a grim tone.

"Get the fingerprint box. We need to identify who she is and where she came from." Another one said. A fourth officer took off out of the Pokemon Center to get his fingerprint box.

One of the other officers, who just so happened to be Officer Jenny, then noticed the message pinned to the front of her dress.

"Looks like a message." She told the others, taking the message from the poor girls corpse and reading it. As she did, she felt a growing sense of dread, as if this message were the beginning of something horrible.

* * *

 _"What happens when one goes looking for the four hidden Pokemon Tribes in Kanto. Alpha, Delta, Gamma and Omega do not welcome humans, and kill them when they get to close for comfort. Let this be a reminder of why these four tribes live away from humans, especially Trainers and Professor's."_

 _~Nightside the Gengar_


	7. Chapter 6: An Enemy Humanity

Sparky woke up early the next morning feeling refreshed. He had a good, long sleep. A welcome sensation, after the battles he had fought the day before.

He glanced over at the wall clock across the room.

5:30 AM.

It was still fairly dark out. The bells from the nearby sanctuary were due to chime shortly, signaling it was time for everyone to wake up. They never let anyone oversleep, since everyone typically had something to do during the day. And Sparky was no exception.

Stretching out, he stood up and stepped over to the window. Other Pokemon were already waking up, as if they'd already heard the bells chiming. Everyone was used to getting up around this time. He saw other Pokemon greeting each other as they went to do their morning errands before Brimstones morning announcements. A few rays of sunlight were coming down through the trees, which were warming up the ground. Though he couldn't see it, Sparky figured the sun was just coming up over the plains north of the village.

"I wonder how Cupcake is doing. She was in pretty bad shape yesterday." He wondered to himself, still worried about Cupcake. She wasn't exactly in the best of shape yesterday after their encounter with that Sandshrew, having almost bled to death. He hoped she didn't die in her sleep last night. It wouldn't be anything new to him, he had seen friends and comrades die overnight in the infirmary before, but this was mainly due to them accidentally opening up their wounds again and bleeding to death before Melody could close them up. He figured Cupcake was smarter then that, and knew to stay put so as not to risk opening her stitches.

Deciding to get a head start on the morning, he leaped out of the window and landed with cat-like agility on the ground, startling Zappa, who just so happened to be coming out of the guard house at that very moment. He had almost landed on top of her.

"Jeez, Sparky, don't surprise me like that!" She exclaimed, causing him to look over at her and chuckle.

"Sorry, Zappa. I didn't see you coming out. I guess I gotta look before I leap." He said to her, making her giggle.

"Oh it's fine. You just spooked me a little, that's all." She said casually, causing Sparky to smile at her. At least she seemed to be perfectly cheerful this morning.

Sparky stepped over and beckoned her toward the river.

"Wanna go make the rounds real quick before Brimstones announcements this morning?" Sparky asked her, to which she nodded happily.

"Sure!" She agreed, before heading off to the river with Sparky. She fiddled with her scarf slightly on the way there.

But when they got there, they weren't happy to see what was sitting by the river, starring into the water.

It was Chopper.

Sparky groaned in frustration.

"Looks like the nuthouse let out early this morning." He sighed, making Zappa sigh as well.

"Well, let's just hope Brimstone knocked some sense into him last night. I heard he got pretty angry at Chopper for attacking you while you were on duty." She commented, making Sparky look at her and nod his head. It was true. He had RARELY seen Brimstone that angry, the old Charizard was pretty good at keeping his temper under control.

They both walked down, a considerable distance from Chopper, who looked over at them and frowned. Sparky noticed Chopper's eyes droop slightly before quickly looking away, as if he'd seen something unpleasant.

"Let's just ignore him." Zappa said, moving closer to the water. She ran her hand through the water in a figure eight pattern, and smiled.

Strangely enough, though she was electric type, she loved the water, probably because it could be used in combination with a waterwheel to create an endless amount of resource producing structures, such as the berry grinder just north of their location along the river, which could blend various kinds of berries into juices. They could then be mixed with various medical herbs and the like to heal injuries when sipped. Oran berries were often used to make healing tonics for scouts and war parties who were heading out on missions.

And besides, finding treasures and items in the river was always a plus.

Sparky was about to tell her to come back before she ended up going swimming for the next hour or so, when Chopper came up to them. He had a look on his face that told Sparky he wasn't happy with recent developments.

"Who was that Eevee in the infirmary with the red bow? I wanted to ask Melody, but she was to busy to answer me." He had asked Sparky, acting unusually friendly for once. But Sparky knew it wouldn't last long. He'd play Mr. Nice Guy to learn what he needed to, and then go right back to being a jerk.

Sparky just folded his arms, giving Chopper a cold stare.

"That was Zappas younger sister Cupcake. But I don't know why you care. You made it pretty clear yesterday that you only care about yourself." He spat, causing Chopper to give him a wounded look. "And it's not the first time you've done it, either." The Pikachu went on.

Chopper just folded his own arms and looked away.

"I just wanted to know who she was. I've never seen her around here before." He explained, before looking back at Sparky, who was now watching as Zappa looked along the river bank for any items that had washed ashore. "She was covered in so many bandages, and she looked a little pale. What happened to her, anyway?" He asked.

Sparky looked back at Chopper, still giving him a cold, hard stare.

"A Sandshrew attacked her on top of Mt. Squirtle. I just barely managed to kill him and save her. Any longer and she would have bled to death." Sparky explained, before shuddering again. The thought that she had almost died still gave him the jitters.

Chopper made an "o" with his mouth, before looking out at Zappa, who was still looking for any treasures in the river. Sparky raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're not acting like your usual self. What did Brimstone say to you?" Sparky half asked, half demanded, causing the Machop to look at him with a very deep frown.

"He said I'm on redwatch. One more outburst from me and he'll have me exiled from the four tribes." He said sadly. Sparky just sighed.

"Well, of you weren't getting into trouble all the time, Brimstone wouldn't have any reason to reprimand you all the time." Sparky said, which made Chopper angry a little. The Pikachu continued. "I mean, let's be honest. You somehow manage to make yourself look like a complete Muk-for-brains at least once a week. You think getting yourself kicked out of here is worth it just to take me and Zappa down a league?" The Pikachu asked. Chopper just looked away sharply.

"Nobody was asking you. Everyone around here hates me, and I'm constantly getting outmatched by you two. If it wasn't for the fact that Melody still thinks there's hope for me, I'd rather take my chances out in the wild." Chopper spat, causing Sparky to roll his eyes.

"The only reason everyone hates you is because you keep causing trouble. And you know as well as the rest of us why I'm training so hard. I'm supposed to take down Darkmoon, remember?" Sparky said, which made Chopper give off a very disgruntled look that Sparky couldn't see. "Remember, when the time comes to take that blockhead out, It's ultimately going to fall on me to do the job. And more then likely, I'll be all alone while doing it. And we all know how strong Darkmoon can be, so I'll need to be very strong to even stand a chance." The Pikachu went on. Chopper turned around to face him, still wearing a disgruntled look on his face.

"Why did you have to be the chosen one? Why couldn't it have been me?" The Machop demanded, a tear threatening to fall from his eye.

Sparky gave him an angry look.

"You think I like being the chosen one? You think it's just about being special, and loved by everyone, and being able to make people cheer their heads off every time you give a speech?" Sparky asked, causing Chopper to raise an eyebrow. "Well, NO. I don't like being the chosen one. Darkmoons constantly after me, his generals are determined to take me down, and everyone expects me to give it my best, even if I don't want to."

Chopper remained silent as Sparky went on.

"I mean, come on! I lost my parents when I was just a baby! I don't even know what they looked like, or what they were like! No, being the chosen one is not all sunshine and flower meadows surrounded by Braviarys and Sylveons. I didn't want to be the one who would eventually have to go up against Darkmoon, and probably lose my life fighting him. Chosen ones don't always come home alive, you know. But that wasn't exactly my choice, and I'll have to live with that the rest of my life. Assuming I don't lose it to one of Darkmoons minions first! It may be a fancy title, but the negatives it comes with far outweigh the positives!" He finished, before looking away in frustration, not even looking over at Zappa, who was holding up a small silver pendent with a large pink jewel in the middle the size of an egg. Her eyes were wide with excitement.

Chopper stood there utterly speechless. He had never thought about the other side of Sparky's fancy title. The side that would ultimate decide whether the Pikachu lives or dies. The part that would literally decide whether Darkmoon would be defeated, or rule over the Pokemon world forever.

Sparky meanwhile felt slightly better. He figured that Chopper had that lecture coming for a long time. He needed to know that being the chosen one wasn't all about having a fancy title.

Chopper took off without another word, causing Sparky to quirk an eyebrow at him. Perhaps he was off to go waste the entire day away like he usually did when he wasn't picking a fight with Sparky and Zappa. With Chopper, one could never tell.

Zappa ran up to him, holding the pendent she had found. It caught Sparky's attention immediately.

"Catch of the day, Sparky! Isn't it pretty?" She asked him, and he nodded, still looking slightly flustered.

"Yeah, give it to Cupcake when she gets out of the infirmary. She'll like it." He suggested, before giving off a heavy sigh. Zappa raised an eyebrow at him.

"What is it?" She asked him. He just shrugged his shoulders.

"Ah, I had to blow off a little steam on Chopper. Give him a little lecture on why being the chosen one isn't all it's made out to be." He explained to her, causing her to giggle.

"How did he take it?" She inquired. Sparky just looked at her with a confused look on his face.

"It's weird, but he just turned around and took off into the forest. Without another word, he just ran off." He told her, causing her to give him a baffled look.

"Huh. I wonder what's up with him?" She wondered, scratching the back of her head. Sparky just shrugged.

"Who knows? With someone like Chopper, common sense was never a high priority." He said, causing Zappa to giggle.

"You got a point there, Sparky." She said, looking down at the pendent she had found. It shined beautifully. She knew Cupcake would love it.

Just then, a Pidgey flying low overhead caught Sparky's attention. It was headed straight for the village with great speed. More specifically, it was en route to Brimstones house.

Sparky and Zappa both looked at where the Pidgey had disappeared to, then looked at each other. Judging by how fast it was flying, something big must have happened, and it was going to report it to Brimstone.

"More trouble?" Zappa asked Sparky, who gave her a worried look.

"I hope not. It would be nice to NOT have to worry about Darkmoon for once." He replied, before taking off for the announcement stage by Brimstone's house. Zappa, after pocketing the pendent, was right behind him.

Several minutes later, the bells from the sanctuary that stood next to the cemetery cave began to chime, indicating it was time to wake up and assemble in front of the stage to listen to Brimstones morning announcements. Sparky and Zappa joined the crowd, curious about whether Tribe Delta's scouts had any leads yet.

But today's main announcement was about anything but.

Brimstone came out of his house and made his way up to the podium that stood in the front center area of the stage. He cleared his throat loudly, looking unusually worried. Sparky felt a growing sense of dread in his heart at Brimstone called for silencing, getting everyone's attention.

"Good morning, everyone. It's another fine day, it is. But before we all become too consumed in our daily activities, we've got some very urgent news to go through. Some of which occurred just last night." He started, causing everyone to share concerned looks with one another. Zappa felt a deep fear rising up inside of her, which Sparky could sense, feeling his own sense of dread growing stronger. He took her hand in his, giving her a reassuring nod. She gulped down her fear and continued to listen to Brimstone.

"As I'm sure you know, around midday yesterday, a Pokemon Trainer was killed by a gigantic Koffing explosion, which also severely wounded Colors, our Braviary friend who is currently recovering in Tribe Delta's village. Upon returning from their village with Sparky, it was discovered that her corpse had disappeared, seemingly without a trace, apart from the puddle of the girls blood that was still on the ground." He told the crowd, who remained silent, waiting with baited breath for what the old Charizard would say next.

"Well, we now know why the corpse disappeared." He announced, earning himself several gasps from the crowd. He looked around at everyone, pausing when he noticed Sparky and Zappa in front, before continuing. "Darkmoons minions went to Goldenrod City in Johto last night, around midnight, and caused a scene. Two Magmars engaged in a duel out in front of the busy Pokemon Center, bring traffic to a halt and causing the police the show up to attempt to restore order. While everyone was busy with the Magmars, Nightside the Gengar slipped past them and dumped the girls body inside the Center via a skylight, causing total havoc." He said, causing nearly the entire crowd to gasp loudly.

Sparky and Zappa, now looking very worried, looked at each other, squeezing each other's hand more tightly, as if hoping it would give them the strength to listen to the rest of Brimstones announcement.

"But the most shocking part of all, was the fact Nightside attached a note to the front of the Trainers dress, which specifically states that our four tribes are hidden here in Kanto. News of this has quickly spread across the two regions and beyond like wildfire. Though it's been laughed upon by many, I doubt it will not be long before we see more people coming to our village. We will need our patrolmen to keep a stricter eye on things around here. Ensure no humans are allowed to enter the village. I daresay the other tribes have already gotten the message and are relaying this same announcement to their inhabitants. Darkmoon is trying to get the humans to discover our way of life. We cannot let that happen!" He shouted, causing everyone in the crowd to look at one another and chatter about this whole development. Many sounded very worried, others scared. Sparky and Zappa were suddenly looking very pale.

Brimstone called for silence again, before continuing on with his speech.

"In other news, our scouts from Tribe Delta still have nothing to report as to the whereabouts of Darkmoons lair. But rest assured that they're looking high and low, and will report back anything they happen to find. Keep your hopes up that we'll be able to end this war before long. Thank you. That is all." He said, before turning around and heading back to his house. The crowd started to disperse, still speaking amongst themselves about this latest plot from Darkmoon to bring the humans into their war.

Sparky and Zappa had detached themselves from the crowd to head toward the infirmary, a deep sense of dread in their hearts. This was, without a doubt, one of THE worst things Darkmoon could have possibly done. It was hard enough keeping Darkmoon and his minions from discovering the four villages, but keeping humans out? Darkmoons minions could be killed without a second thought, but humans were an entirely different story.

"What are we going to do, Sparky? If a whole bunch of humans show up at our doorstep, this village is finished." Zappa said to Sparky, clearly worried about what could happen to their village, to their home. If they had to evacuate the village, where would everyone go? None of the other three tribes had enough room for the entirety of Tribe Alpha's population. Not to mention a movement of that size would never go unnoticed by Darkmoon.

Sparky seemed to be lost in thought as the two came to a stop outside the infirmary. He was at a loss over what this could possibly do to their way of life.

"Brimstone said that message was mostly laughed at, so hopefully most people thought it was just some kind of sick joke." He said to her, before thinking on the subject again. "Then again, it was attached to a corpse, and that's NOT something to be taken as a joke." He mused, more to himself then to her.

She frowned and looked down at the ground.

"I really hope nothing bad happens to any of our friends, or the village. But considering how Darkmoon can be when it comes to getting what he wants, I'm not holding my breath." She said in a low sort of tone, which made Sparky frown as well.

"Well, only time will tell what becomes of all this. In the meantime, we need to focus on keeping the village safe. Brimstone and everyone else are counting on us." Sparky told her, making her nod in approval.

"Right. We better get going, then!" She told him, before turning and heading toward the southern woods that lead to the southern plain. Sparky was quick to follow her, not noticing what was going on inside the infirmary.

\- DARKMOONS LAIR -

Nightside was pounding a nearby table with his fist. Darkmoon was looking slightly disappointed, but nothing more. A young female Golbat was sitting on a chair not far from where Nightside was hitting the table.

"Well, it's not the first time a plan has backfired." The Rayquaza said, but Nightside was still furious at the reaction his message on a corpse had gotten.

"That plan was perfect! We pulled it off perfectly! What could have gone wrong!?" He demanded, driving his fist into the Table once again. The Golbat just gave him a curious look.

"Did something happen?" She asked Nightside, who gazed up at her in frustration.

"My note about the four tribes fell on deaf ears, Bloodshed. They all think it's just a giant joke!" He exclaimed, hitting the table once again. The Golbat, Bloodshed, just giggled.

"Look at you, throwing a temper tantrum like a spoiled little kid! How embarrassing." She said to him in a very sassy tone. He just groaned loudly.

"Oh, do shut up..." He snorted, lowering his head onto the table. Darkmoon cleared his throat, getting their attention.

"Well, they'll always be another day for using our common enemies against our bigger enemies. Right now, we need to focus on those Pokemon we captured yesterday. I want them to serve me by the end of the day." He said in a very happy tone, clearly pleased with how events were going, despite the fact the message to the humans hadn't worked out the way he had hoped they would.

Nightside perked up slightly. He had completely forgotten about them.

"Shall I go down and give them a taste of my Nightmare?" He asked Darkmoon, who smiled once again, before chuckling.

"Why, certainly, Nightside. Give them something to be scared of before I get down there." He instructed Nightside, who grinned evilly before taking off down to the lower chambers of Darkmoons lair. "And don't kill them like you did last time!" The old Rayquaza called after him.

Bloodshed, having watched Nightside go until he was out of sight, turned to Darkmoon.

"What would you like me to do?" She asked him, making him look over at her.

"I want you to head to Goldenrod City in Johto and see what's going on. Especially around that Pokemon Center. I want to know the extent of the damage Nightside and those two Magmars did." He instructed her. She rose up from her seat and saluted him.

"Right away!" She replied, before taking off out of the room herself. Darkmoon turned to return to his chambers, deep in thought.

"Is Nightside really trying to turn the humans against our enemies? I never thought he would think to use such bizarre tactics. Using one enemy to destroy another." He mused to himself, before grinning to himself, despite the fact Nightsides message to the humans hadn't gone completely according to plan.

...Or had it?

\- TRIBE ALPHA, 2 HOURS LATER -

It was past 8:00 in the morning now. Sparky and Zappa had spent the last two hours patrolling the southern village border. The plains south of them were empty thus far. Thank goodness.

"Nothing so far. At least the humans don't seem to be to horribly interested in looking for our village." Sparky commented, glad that the last couple of hours had gone by so peacefully, despite Brimstones grim announcement. He knew it would be a while before any of the villages were located, seeing as they were very well hidden.

Zappa, who had been examining the pendent she got from the river earlier, looked up at him and smiled.

"Yes, that is very fortunate. I'd rather not have to worry about driving humans away from here." She replied, putting away the pendent and picking up her pace slightly to keep up with Sparky. "Hmm. I wonder what Chopper is up to?" She wondered aloud. They hadn't seen him since that morning by the river.

Sparky just scoffed. He was still thinking about the lecture he had given Chopper.

"I honestly don't care, as long as he's not starting anymore trouble. He's caused enough of a mess as it is." He said to her, making her stop and think for a moment. Sparky also stopped, and looked at her with a quizzical look upon his face.

He watched her for a moment, wondering what she was thinking about.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked her, causing her to look up at him.

"Oh, just thinking. Sorry." She told him. Sparky just rolled his eyes. He honestly didn't care where Chopper was. As long as the little Machop wasn't causing anymore trouble, he could care less. He had more important things to do, such as watching out for humans.

Speaking of which...

Zappa then gasped loudly, and pointed out toward the plains.

"TRUCK! A TRUCK FULL OF PEOPLE!" She had screamed, causing Sparky to whip around and look where she was pointing.

Sure enough, there it was. A large white truck, or van, the size of an armored car was rolling across the plains, heading for a small pond close to the forest on the opposite side of the plains. Sparky figured whoever was in there hadn't seen the pair yet. They seemed more interested in stopping by this pond.

The trick pulled up next to the pond and stopped. Sparky and Zappa quickly dove behind some trees and peeked out.

A tall man with a black beard and black, wavy hair opened the drivers side door and stepped out from the truck. He was wearing a lab coat and had the look of a scientist around him. A couple of younger men came out from the back of the truck, both of whom were wearing similar laboratory attire. A young looking boy, no older then twelve, jumped out of the passenger seat. He looked just like a Pokemon Trainer. The two younger men were looking around in amazement. This was clearly their first time exploring these plains. Or it may have been their first time exploring Kanto.

And they were a little to close to the village for Sparky's personal taste. Especially considering how they looked strangely out of place, out here in the middle of the wilderness in their lab outfits, with the exception of the Pokemon Trainer.

Sparky felt his gut do a horrible somersault. This was more then he was used to dealing with. He could handle one or two humans just fine, but four at once... and he didn't know if there were any more still inside the truck.

"Well, this won't do at all." Zappa said, eyeing the people as they started coming closer to the line of trees separating the plains from the village.

"Yep. This is going to be tricky." Sparky replied, quickly ducking behind the tree again. He didn't want to risk being seen. Zappa didn't want to take any risks, either, as she had also ducked back behind the tree she was hiding behind, too.

"Any ideas, Sparky?" She asked him, before peeking out again, almost getting spotted by the Trainer, who seemed to be running his eyes along the lines of trees, looking for any Pokemon.

"I got one: Call in reinforcements." He replied, ringing his patrolman's bell, signaling they needed help. And boy, were they going to need all the help they could get...


	8. Chapter 7: Servine, Forever Free

"Man, this place is beautiful. I've never been to Kanto before!" The young Pokemon Trainer said, his eyes scanning the tree line for any Pokemon. He was rather tall for his age, with a rather athletic build, meaning traveling around wasn't an issue at all for him. He had short green hair that covered about half of his face, and was wearing a short sleeved white T-shirt and green camo pants. Brown hiking boots made it easy for him to cross rough terrain. He had a backpack on that read "Gotta catch em' all!" across the front.

Sparky quirked an eyebrow at the phrase on the Trainers backpack. He never did understand that phrase fully.

"Who's the Muk-head who came up with that?" He asked to himself, making Zappa roll her eyes in minor amusement, before ducking behind her tree again. Sparky did the same.

"Careful, now! We need to get this camp set up. Then we can go looking for Pokemon." The Professor called out to the Trainer, grabbing a large tent kit out of the back of their vehicle and carrying it over to a patch of flat land nearby. The two assistants were right behind him, carrying other things they would need, including sleeping bags.

The Trainer scratched the back of his head, chuckling.

"Alright, sorry." He said, before running over to help with the unloading.

Just when Sparky thought he and Zappa would end up having to drive them away themselves, Hotsauce showed up. She took one look at the large van being unloaded by four people, and her eyes widened. She hadn't been expecting anything like this.

She quickly dove behind the tree with Zappa, narrowly avoiding getting spotted by the Trainer, and peeked out to observe the situation.

"Well... this won't be easy. We've got four people to drive off and one of them is a Trainer, and the other three all appear to be researchers, or Professor's. I hope one of you has a plan." She said to Sparky and Zappa. They both frowned. So much for Hotsauce making their great plan of action.

"We were hoping you would have a plan." Zappa said, giving Hotsauce a disappointed look. Hotsauce just frowned.

"I would if Colors were here. He's usually my go-to guy when it comes to driving away humans." She said sadly, and Sparky remembered that Colors was currently recovering from some serious injuries in Tribe Delta's village. He sighed in frustration.

"Well, we gotta think of something, or they're gonna find us. They're not to far out." Sparky warned, taking note of how close these humans were to the line of trees that kept their village hidden. They had to act quickly, or it wouldn't stay hidden for long.

Hotsauce forced her mind to try and come up with a plan. And with a light gasp, one came to her.

"I got it!" She exclaimed, causing Sparky and Zappa to look at her. They had mildly surprised expression on their faces, as if Hotsauces sudden outburst had caught them off guard.

"Well, let's hear it!" Sparky said, as the three huddled together to go over the plan. With any luck, it would be enough to chase away these humans.

 _\- ONE HOUR LATER -_ The Trainer, now that the camp site was completed, was now wandering around the plains, taking in the sights and keeping an eye out for any Pokemon. Many of the Pokemon in Kanto weren't usually seen or found in his homeland, and he was eager to catch some and take them home to show to his folks.

The Pokemon Professor who happened to live in that same town had wanted to come here with his assistants and study the Pokemon in Kanto, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity for the four to journey to Kanto and try to find some rare Pokemon.

And unfortunately, Sparky, being a Pikachu, fell under the category of "Rare" Pokemon ( taking into account the fact Pikachu only have a five percent chance of appearing in the Generation 1 games Red and Blue/Green ), which is why it was important that he, along with Zappa and Hotsauce, stay out of sight.

It was also why Sparky was in total disapproval of Hotsauces plan to use him as live bait to lure the Trainer and Professor's elsewhere.

"This is not a good plan. It's a terrible plan." Sparky complained, but Hotsauce wouldn't hear of it.

"Come on, quit being a baby. It's our only chance." Said Hotsauce, chuckling to herself. She seemed to like this plan, judging by the smirk on her face. She thought she had struck gold.

Zappa, however, was on Sparky's side. She folded her arms and gave Hotsauce a cold stare.

"And what if this whole thing goes array? Sparky's going to be left running for his life all over Kanto, with a Trainer and THREE Professor's on his tail! And they have a car, too!" She complained, but Hotsauce simply shushed her.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine. Sparky just has to use Quick Attack to stay out of range of those Pokeballs. They can only fly so far, you know." Hotsauce explained. She then turned to Sparky, who was still wearing a disapproving expression on his face. "You hear me, Sparky? You'll have to be fast to outrun their Pokeballs. Just get their attention, then lure them away with your Quick Attack. Try to lose them in the forest, if you can. They won't be able to follow you in there for long. Especially in their vehicle."

Sparky gave a sigh, feeling as if he had just been handed a death sentence.

"Well... let's get this over with." He said, turning around and getting ready to take off with Quick Attack toward the Trainer, who was once again heading straight toward the village.

Zappa, however, ran up to Sparky, causing him to look over it her. She had a single tear in her eye and looked visibly distressed.

"Sparky... please, please be careful! If we lost you, I'd... I'd..." She stammered, failing to find the right words to complete her sentence.

Sparky, however, put a hand on her cheek and shushed her.

"It's alright, Zappa. I'll be fine. It's not the first time I've had to lure someone away from our village." He told her, giving her a comforting smile. She still looked distressed.

"It's the first time you've had to lure four humans away at once, though, isn't it?" She asked him, making him chuckle. Hotsauce chuckled, too.

"Well, you got a point there." He replied. He then turned and, after a deep breath to prepare himself, took off at an incredible speed with Quick Attack.

Zappa watched him go, before looking over at Hotsauce, who was keeping a sharp eye on the Trainer, who hadn't yet noticed Sparky coming across the plains at full speed.

"I wish I could go with him." Zappa had said, watching Sparky run like a comet across the plains. Who knew Quick Attack was so useful for moving around quickly?

Hotsauce looked over at her, a quizzical look on her face.

"You have Quick Attack, to, don't you?" She asked the Jolteon, who nodded back at her. Hotsauce let out a little laugh.

"Well, then, what are you standing here next to me for? Get out there and go help him!" She instructed, but the Jolteon frowned at her.

"What if I make a mistake? I don't want to put myself and Sparky in danger." She worried, clearly not feeling confident in her ability to help Sparky with this difficult task. If she made a mistake, it was either death, or a lifetime of being dragged who knows where to do who knows what.

Hotsauce signed at Zappa, not liking where this conversation was going at all.

"You can't just live in doubt and worry, Zappa. You've got to start taking some chances and living life to the fullest. Especially if you want to be with Sparky. How do you think he feels right now? He's probably really nervous to be trying to lure away four humans at once, and he's out there doing it anyway! Come on, Zappa. Don't you ever want to be strong and brave like Sparky?" She asked Zappa, who was now suddenly lost in thought. Hotsauce had a point. Zappa didn't want to spend the rest of her life in doubt. She wanted to be able to stand alongside Sparky, through thick and thin.

But how could she do that without endangering anyone? Especially herself and Sparky? She could never forgive herself if her actions led to one of her friends or allies getting hurt... or worse. She had already hurt herself once by carelessly using Volt Tackle.

"That's easy for you to say. It's hard to get out there when so much is at stake. If I mess up, it could be all over for us." Zappa said, still not completely convinced that she should go out and help Sparky, who was now dangerously close to attracting the attention of the Trainer.

Hotsauce gave Zappa a reassuring smile.

"So life's throwing a curving shadow ball at you. You can't let that get in the way, Zappa. Just get out there and follow Sparky's lead. You'll be fine." The Flareon said. Zappa was still unsure. Should she risk it and help Sparky, or try to let him handle this alone?

The answer to that question came when the two heard a commotion out in the plains. They turned to look. Sparky had whistled loudly, getting the Trainers attention.

The Trainer, upon finally seeing Sparky, let out a shout, getting the attention of the Professor and his assistants.

"Look, it's a Pikachu! Those are super ultra rare!" He exclaimed, as the eyes of the Professor widened. This was his first time seeing a Pikachu, too.

"My word, the electric mouse Pokemon! I never thought we'd end up actually seeing one!" He exclaimed, grabbing a special examination tool from the workbench he had set up in front of him. He was clearly excited to have found such a rare Pokemon so early into their Kanto trip.

Sparky just chuckled to himself, which they heard as "Pika-Pika!".

 _"They really are fooled easily by rare Pokemon. Colors might end up out of a job at this rate."_ Sparky thought to himself, before turning his attention back to the Trainer, who was starring at Sparky as if he were a Legendary Pokemon.

Then, in typical Trainer style, He reached for a Pokeball in his bag. Sparky smirked to himself and stood ready.

Then a terrible sound reached his ears. It sounded like someone banging on hardened glass. He looked over, and gasped at what he saw.

A Servine, no older then Sparky, was stuck inside a containment tank sitting in the back of the humans truck, or van. He looked visibly distressed, and was holding what was unmistakably a Quick Claw. As soon as the commotion with Sparky started up, he started banging on the tank, calling for help.

"Hey! Hey, you there! Get me out of this thing!" He called, trying to get free. The Professor turned to look at him, before frowning and turning to his assistants.

"Would you two please shut that Servine up!? I can't work with all that racket!" He exclaimed, to which the two assistants nodded, before starting to make their way over to the containment tank.

The Servine, seeing them coming, gasped loudly, clearly afraid of what was going to happen. Sparky's eyes widened. What were they going to do to him?

He didn't want to wait to find out. He turned back to the Trainer, who was about to throw his Pokeball.

"Pokeball, GO!" He shouted, firing the Pokeball at Sparky like a fastball in a major league baseball game.

Zappa and Hotsauce gasped, and their eyes widened.

"What in the world is he doing!?" Hotsauce exclaimed, unable to understand why Sparky was refusing to move, despite seeing a Pokeball flying in his direction.

Zappa covered her eyes in horror.

"Sparky, no!" She exclaimed, unable to watch Sparky being captured within that ball. It would be to much for her to take.

Sparky eyeballed the incoming sphere, and then, with a well-placed Iron Tail, hit it away like a professional batter.

The Trainer was dumbfounded.

"W-W-What!?" He stammered, unable to believe that this Pikachu had hit his Pokeball away for a home run.

The Pokemon Professor and the two assistants had to dive for cover as the Pokeball flew past them faster then a speeding formula one police car, and slammed into the Servines containment tank with Richter rocking force. The tank was heavily cracked to the point of almost shattering. The Pokeball was smashed to pieces.

The Servine was able to use his tail to shatter the tank easily. He was free!

 _"Heh heh, to easy."_ Sparky thought to himself, watching the Professor and his assistants gaze around in mild bewilderment. They had never seen anything quite like THAT before!

"Nice one, Sparky!" Hotsauce cheered, even though she knew Sparky couldn't hear her. Zappa had uncovered her eyes to see what was happening.

"Huh? What happened?" She asked, having not seen what Sparky did.

"He deflected that Trainers Pokeball, and freed that imprisoned Servine, that's what!" Hotsauce said happily, clearly in approval over what Sparky had just done. Even Chopper would have been impressed.

"He... he did?" Zappa asked, looking out from behind the tree at the scene. Hotsauce just smiled at her.

"Still unsure about going out there and helping him? It could be fun, you know." She had asked Zappa. The Jolteon had to admit, it did look like fun. Even though it was very dangerous.

The Trainer was just reaching for a new Pokeball when Sparky suddenly Quick Attacked his way over to the van, having noticed the Professor and the assistants climbing to their feet, and noticing the Servine was free.

"The Servine! His containment tanks broken! Catch him, qu--" The Professor had started, but before he could finish his sentence, a huge bolt of lightning struck the ground nearby, causing the three to fall back in fright. Sparky had used Thunder, startling them.

He then turned to see the Trainer throwing another Pokeball at him. Sparky sent this one right back into the Trainers face, knocking him to the ground. The Pikachu chuckled, before dashing over to the Servine, who simply nodded his head in appreciation.

"Thanks for helping me, friend. I thought I was done for..." He said to Sparky, carefully stepping out of the shattered remains of the tank, as the Pikachu chuckled.

"No problem. Just happy to help. But what were you doing in there, anyway?" Sparky asked, clearly confused as to why this Servine was trapped in a glass containment tank, and not a Pokeball. The Servine just shrugged, not fully knowing himself.

"I wish I knew. They just grabbed me on the way here and threw me into that containment tank. It was really painful. I'm surprised I'm still alive..." He told Sparky, before shuddering. He didn't want to say anymore. Some things were better left unsaid.

Sparky just lowered his head.

"I see. Well, you're free now, and that's all th--" Sparky said, but halfway through his sentence, someone had shouted.

"Rapidash, use Flamethrower!"

 **"WATCH OUT!!"** The Servine screamed, as he and Sparky dove aside. A powerful Flamethrower hit the inside wall of the van, nearly incinerating it.

The two turned and looked. The Trainer was back on his feet, a tall Rapidash standing in front of him. It obviously belonged to the Trainer, as it had been the one who had fired that Flamethrower, and the Trainer was the one who had given the command.

"OK, Rapidash, use Fire Wheel!" The Trainer commanded. The Rapidash reeled back and prepared to launch a Fire Wheel at the two. Sparky stood ready to jump aside along with the Servine. Out of the corner of his eye, Sparky saw the other three climbing to their feet, still slightly worried as to whether or not anymore giant lightning bolts were going to rain down on them.

Just as the Rapidash was going to use Fire Wheel, a Thunder came down from seemingly out of nowhere and hit the fire-type. Hard. The Rapidash roared in raw agony before collapsing.

The Trainer gasped in horror, before running to his fallen Pokemon.

"Rapidash!" He yelled, hoping beyond hope that his Rapidash wasn't to badly injured.

Sparky and the Servine were currently looking around for the source of that Thunder. Who had come in and helped them?

The answer to that question came when Zappa landed in front of the two, who then proceeded to launch another Thunder at the humans, creating a thick cloud of dust around the Professor and harming the Rapidash further, even paralyzing it. The Trainer had to dive aside in order to avoid being hurt.

Sparky blinked in mild surprise, and then let out a slight laugh. He had never seen Zappa attempting something like this. And it made him proud to know her.

"Not bad, Zappa. Even Zapdos would be impressed with that one." He told her, making her blush and chuckle. She loved it when he complemented her.

The Servine was pleased, too.

"Yes, thank you, miss. It's always a pleasure to meet such powerful Pokemon." He said, before putting a hand to his chin and thinking for a moment. "So those rumors about the four tribes I heard are true..."

That got the attention of the two electric-types. They both turned to him, confused looks on their faces.

"Where did you hear about the four tribes?" Sparky asked, as Zappa came running up next to him. The Servine just sighed sadly, before giving the two a somber look.

He opened his mouth and started to speak, but before he had even said one word, the cloud of dust was starting to settle, and the four humans were all looking in their direction.

Sparky turned to the other two, a slightly worried look on his face.

"Actually, you can tell us on the way. We gotta book it!" Sparky exclaimed, turning and running into the forest. Zappa and the Servine were right behind him.

The Pokemon Professor was now running toward the van, the assistants and the Trainer ( who had recalled his fainted Rapidash ) already jumping in.

"They're not getting away from us!" The Professor exclaimed, inserting the key and turning on the engine. It revved to life, and the van had taken off after the three Pokemon.

Sparky looked back and saw the van headed toward them. He gasped.

"Change of plan! Into the trees!" He shouted, jumping up into a nearby tree branch. Zappa and the Servine were right behind him, hopping up into the trees and taking off into the dense forest. But the Professor wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Oh no, you don't!" He shouted, and slammed down on the gas pedal. The van roared forward at full speed, causing the passengers to worry as to what he was up too.

Sparky saw them speeding through the forest. He had an idea.

"Let's lead them to the highway on the far side of the forest. We can ditch them there." He told the other two, who nodded in agreement, before heading for the other side of the forest, the four humans still on their tails.

They heard the sound of a Pokeball opening behind them. The Trainer had sent out another Pokemon. This time, it was a Haunter.

 _"Figures he'd have more then one on hand."_ Sparky thought to himself.

"Haunter, use Shadow Ball!" The Trainer commanded. The Haunter fired a Shadow Ball in their direction. Luckily, they were able to avoid it.

"I'll handle this one!" The Servine said, before beginning to charge up solar power. Sparky and Zappa wondered what he was up too. What was he going to do to that Haunter?

They had to dodge several more Shadow Balls before the answer finally came. The Servine, fully charged, unleashed a powerful Solar Beam on the Haunter, blasting it out of the sky and straight into the van, nearly causing the Professor to have a wreck.

"Wow, nice shot!" Sparky said, much to the Servines delight.

"Thanks, friend." He replied happily.

After about twenty minutes of running full-speed from these persistent humans, and dispatching two more of the Trainers Pokemon, the highway was now coming into view. And on the other side of said highway, behind a guardrail, was a twenty-foot deep ditch. It was perfect.

"We gotta blind the driver." Sparky told the others. Zappa already had a solution. She pulled out a jar of thick, purple-ish liquid. Sparky looked at it curiously before Zappa explained what it was to him.

"It's a special jel-like juice mixture they use in Tribe Gamma to hold houses together. It dries and hardens almost immediately after its been used. Foredawn gave it to me, and said to only use it when absolutely necessary." She told Sparky, who let out an "Ah." in understanding.

"That should do the trick nicely." He told her, before taking the jar and holding it ready. He had to be careful with it. He was only going to get one shot at this, and if he missed, they would be in BIIIIG trouble. He didn't exactly have a "Plan B" to fall back on.

"It's now or never!" The Pikachu said, before tossing the entire jar at the front windshield of the van. It hit it's mark directly, covering the entire windshield in the purple jel.

"Holy Swiss cheese!" The Professor shouted, before turning on his windshield wipers. Nothing.The jel was already dried and hardened.

"We're going to crash!" One of the assistants shouted, covering his eyes.

"Zappa, NOW!" Sparky bellowed, as he and her suddenly launched themselves at the van with Volt Tackle. They collided with the back of the vehicle and sent it spiraling out of control onto the highway, it's four passengers screaming for deal life.

The van was headed straight toward the guardrail.

"What is going on!?" The Trainer shouted, unable to see what was happening through the jel covered windshield. The speed at which they soared across the medium had sent him tumbling into the floor of the van.

"WATCH OUT FOR THAT GUARDRAIL!!" The other assistant shouted, lunging at the steering wheel as the Professor fought to regain control.

To late.

The van plowed right through the guardrail like a bulldozer and nose-dived into the ditch. The four humans were all dazed, though amazingly unhurt. Though their van was in pretty bad shape.

The three Pokemon stopped to observe the sight. Sparky and Zappa had a good laugh at the sight of the Trainer trying to climb out of the vans window, which was tricky to say the least, seeing as how the van was now lying on it's side.

The Servine then noticed a large, tall tree hanging over the ditch, directly above the van. He smiled.

"Just for good measure." He said, as he and his companions stepped back. Sparky and Zappa watched as he sent an Energy Ball into the bottom of the tree, blowing it loose from the cliff and causing it to fall directly on top of the van with a thundering crash. The four humans screamed helplessly as the tree came down.

The Trainer tried to open the back doors. Nothing. They were stuck shut. And the tree would ensure these four humans stay in that ditch for some time.

"We're trapped!" One of the assistants shouted, hitting the windshield with all his strength to try and break out of the vehicle, only to bounce off and into the other assistant, sending them both tumbling onto the floor.

The three Pokemon laughed. This battle was over. They had won.

"Good going, guys. These cabbage heads will think twice before coming around our territory again." The Pikachu said happily. Zappa was in full agreement. These humans just got their carapaces handed to them on a silver platter, and they were unlikely to forget about it anytime soon.

"You said it, Sparky." Zappa said, before giving Sparky a high five. The Servine couldn't stop smiling. He was just happy to be free from that containment tank. Besides, it WAS pretty fun!

"You both have my thanks for helping me to escape. I hate to think what would have happened of you two hadn't come along." He said gratefully, bowing to the both of them. They both chuckled, bowing playfully in return.

They could still hear the humans trying to escape the van in the ditch below. It sounded like something heavy had fallen down and hit the Professor on the head, because they heard him let out a sharp "YEOWCH!" in pain.

"Hey, we hate to see a fellow Pokemon in trouble. Besides, I'm sure you would have done the same for us." Sparky said, folding his arms, still smiling happily. He needed to do this more often. It was fun to mess with pesky humans who were coming to close to finding their village.

They all felt pretty happy, or at the very least content. But this feeling wouldn't last forever.

Zappa had let out a sharp gasp, pointing down the highway. The other two turned and looked.

"Uh-oh! It's the cops!" She exclaimed. She wasn't lying. A pitch black car with police lights on top, which were lit up and flashing brightly alongside the cars loud siren, was roaring down the highway in their direction. Someone must have seen or heard the chase and called the police. Sparky hadn't realized how much of a racket they were making, or how high that cloud of brownish smoke coming from the van was climbing into the sky. It also didn't help that Pewter City was very close to their current location.

"We better get out of here. Somehow I just know we're going to get blamed for this." Sparky told the others, before taking off into the forest back toward the village, Zappa and the Servine right behind him.

The Pokemon Professor finally managed to get the back doors loose just as the police car came to a stop on the other side of the highway. Officer Jenny stepped out of the car, looked down into the ditch, and gasped.

When she got a call about a serious accident in the area while on her way to Pewter City, she certainly didn't expect anything like THIS! The van was on it's side, with a giant tree lying on top of it. A dark smoke was coming out of the engine, warning that it could catch fire.

The Professor climbed out of the van, hurting as if he'd just been inside a clothes dryer.

"Hey, is anyone hurt down there?" Officer Jenny called down, causing him to look up after her. He squinted his eyes to try and see who he was talking too. His glasses were cracked, making it difficult to see.

"Huh? Who's that?" He asked, putting a hand above his eyes to try and see who it was. He took off his glasses and looked at them. "Oh, darnit, they're broken!"

The Pokemon Trainer climbed out and looked up at Officer Jenny, who had looked over at him.

"Wait right there, I'm going to get some help." Jenny called down, before turning and heading back to her patrol car to call for an ambulance, a fire truck, and a tow truck. These people were likely hurt, their van needed to be towed out of that ditch, and she didn't like that dark smoke rising out of the engine.

"Well, this day's been just dandy. First we lost our Servine, then we failed to catch those other rare Pokemon, then we end up crashing in a ditch!" The Professor exclaimed, before slipping and falling in a small patch of mud. The two assistants had tried to climb out of the van, but they both ended up tripping and falling to the ground. The Trainer just sighed at them. Maybe this trip was a bad idea.

"Argh... some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed." The Professor groaned.

Meanwhile, back in the forest, Sparky, Zappa and the Servine were busy making their way back to Tribe Alpha's village when something came to Sparky's mind.

"Hey, you started to mention the four tribes before. Where did you hear about them?" Sparky asked the Servine, as they all slid under a low tree branch. Zappa had been wondering that as well, and now her full attention was on the Servine.

The young grass-type sighed sadly and started to explain the situation to the two electric-types.

"It seems the world wasn't as negative about that bit of news concerning the four tribes after all. I had heard rumors that many people, from Pokemon Trainers, to Professor's, and even some Champions, were going to try and find the four tribes. For what reasons, I've heard all kinds. Some say they want to see if these four tribes are real. Some say they just want to catch some of the Pokemon, believing them to be very powerful. Others reasons just make no sense." He had said to the two, making them both look over at him in mild shock. Had people really taken Nightsides message seriously?

"Of course, the fact that message was attached to the corpse of a young girl, who many people believe was killed by the four tribes, gave the impression that you guys are willing to do anything to defend your territory. Even murder." The Servine went on, earning upset looks from Sparky and Zappa. They weren't the ones who killed that girl! It was Darkmoons doing! But somehow Sparky knew that trying to convince the humans of that would be easier said then done. Especially after this latest mishap of causing someone to have a major wreck.

"I was heading to Pallet Town to see the sights when I got grabbed by those four idiots. They had mentioned going out to find the four tribes and bring back some of their Pokemon as proof of their existence. They must have thought I was one of them and grabbed me. I'll never forget the experience I had in that containment tank..." He finished, shuddering slightly. He was still disturbed over his experience inside that containment tank.

Sparky and Zappa were just looking at each other now, both with wide eyes and pale faces. Because they both knew. They both understood.

It looked as if the humans really WERE going to be more trouble then they initially thought.


	9. Chapter 8: Whiplash

It was going to be a long, quiet walk back to Tribe Alpha. But Sparky and Zappa were entirely lost in thought, so it seemed like nothing more then a midday stroll for them. The Servine had decided to play it safe and stay quiet, partly because he could see the two were thinking about something, but also so he could get his bearings. He hadn't been paying attention to where the three were going when they were being pursued by the humans. He was half hoping they wouldn't get lost.

But that wasn't what was worrying Sparky and Zappa. It was the humans.

Humans had always been a problem, ever since the day the four tribes were established. Every week, Brimstone had announced that a human had somehow gotten involved with their ongoings, whether it be because he/she died, or had to be driven away from one of the villages. It happened so often, it was considered to be normal. Some Pokemon enjoyed gambling on the next time a human would be spotted approaching one of the villages, much to the patrolmen's displeasure.

But up until now, the four tribes were, to say the least, unknown from the world. It wasn't public knowledge that they existed in the first place. They had been shadows in the region of Kanto; Often seen, yet rarely noticed, and they hardly ever had any attention paid to them.

But now that Darkmoon and Nightside had thrown it out to the world that the four tribes existed, they would have to do their best to stay under the radar, lest they risk losing their way of life, either to Darkmoon, to the humans, or both. These were, by far, their most trying times.

Then again, the same could be said about their war, as well as Darkmoon and Nightside, and the rest of that Rayquazas generals. They had been previously unknown, existing only in Johto and Kanto, primarily in Kanto, since that's where the four tribes and Darkmoons lair were. But now Nightside had increased the risk that Darkmoons lair would be discovered, and his plans to overthrow the world foiled. With any luck, this would make it easier to locate that fiends lair and destroy him.

But right now, they had problems that needed to be dealt with. And the fact they now had this Servine to handle didn't make the situation much better. Sparky and Zappa were glad to have helped him, but now they were unsure of what to do with him. What if Brimstone said he couldn't stay in the village? Where would he go? Servine were uncommon Pokemon to see in Kanto, and it would be difficult for him to find a place to stay. He would likely end up going elsewhere, or ending up in a Trainers hands.

Sparky had been thinking about this same situation with Cupcake, but had thought better then to worry to much about it. She was Zappa's sister, and was still incredibly young, not evolved yet, and relatively inexperienced, and therefore unlikely to be of any trouble.

Besides, if she managed to evolve into Sylveon, she'd be pretty useful for taking out dragon-types! But the odds of that happening were pretty slim. There were so many possible evolutions for an Eevee, it would be nearly impossible to create the conditions necessary for that specific evolution, especially with two separate threats breathing down their backs.

Sparky eventually looked over at Zappa, who appeared to be worrying about something.

"You thinking about your sister?" He asked her. The Servine looked over at her as she raised her head and looked over at him with a worried expression on her face.

"A little. I'm still worried she's not going to survive her injuries. She wasn't in the best of shape earlier today, you know..." Her voice trailed off. She didn't want to talk about it any further. It was still a painful topic to bring up.

The Servine had raised an eyebrow at her as Sparky kicked at a pile of fallen leaves nearby.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure Melody is taking good care of her. She can mend any injury in around a day, if the patient can sit still long enough." Sparky reassured her. They had suffered far worse injuries then Cupcakes in the past, and Melody had managed to patch them up in a matter of hours. They were usually back on their feet in less then twenty-four hours, no matter how beaten up they got.

And dealing with a threat like Darkmoon, that was quite often.

The Servine, who wanted to know more, finally decided to speak up.

"I'm sorry, what happened?" He asked, curious about what they were talking about. Sparky just looked at him.

"I'll explain when we get to the village." He said firmly. Looking over at Zappa, who still wore a worried look, the Servine decided to leave it at that. He knew better then to try and argue. He didn't want to risk upsetting his rescuers. What if they both took off and left him there all alone? And they both seemed to be a little uptight.

Along the way there, Sparky could see, off in the distance, the remains of the section of the forest that had been blown apart. He wondered how Colors was doing, considering his condition. It certainly hadn't been easy for the old Braviary, nearly getting blown to bits, and having his wing broken by a stray shadow ball.

At last, after what seemed like a couple of hours of walking, they had made it to the village. Everything seemed to be in order, despite the chaos that had broken out before. Everyone was going about their daily schedules normally, hardly a care in the world.

And right away, Sparky and company noticed Hotsauce coming toward them. She had a satisfied look upon her face.

"Well, I didn't expect that plan to actually work! I saw those humans chasing you guys into the forest! At least, until the trees became to thick to see. But that was incredible! A Pokemon could live for thousands of years and never again see four humans lured away like that." She rambled, until Sparky cleared his throat, which made her shut up and pay attention to him.

"Ah, shoot, it was nothing. Brimstone could have done it just as easily, and perhaps a little more... gracefully." He said to the others. He had to admit, while watching those humans plummet into a ditch was rather fun, he was thinking of several different ways he could have done it more quickly and efficiently. The method he had used was... disappointing, to say the least. At least as far as he saw it.

Zappa just giggled, getting Sparky's attention.

"Well, Brimstone would have had a difficult time maneuvering through all those trees, they're quite narrow the closer you get to the highway. He'd have no way of dodging the Trainers Pokeballs, or his Pokemon's attacks. We were the best candidates to take on the job." She explained, the Servine nodding in approval. Sparky had to admit, she had a good point. Like she usually did.

Hotsauce just smiled at the three. Then she noticed the Servine. She raised an eyebrow at him. She had never seen him before, especially in any of the four villages.

"And who's this you got with you? I don't recognize him." She asked, keeping her eyes trained on him.

The Servine stepped forward, bowing to her politely.

"Just a humble traveler, miss. I was on my way to Pallet Town when I was grabbed by those four goons. If these two brave Pokemon hadn't come along when they did, why..." He paused, still not at liberty to talk about his experience inside that forsaken containment tank. "... There's no telling what might have happened to me."

The Flareon hadn't been expecting to hear that. She gave a slightly shocked gasp.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that." She said, a look of deep remorse on her face. She didn't want to imagine what awful things the humans had done to him. It sounded so wrong to her. Why would humans deliberately hurt a Pokemon inside a containment tank? Not only was it against their laws, it was cruel and unjust to do as a whole. She had seen several humans being arrested for committing such a heinous crime, and a couple of times, she had had a hand in their capture. It only seemed right.

Sparky shuddered slightly. He wasn't exactly sure if he could have taken whatever this poor Servine had gone through. If it was so bad he had to keep bringing it up constantly, it must have been TERRIBLE. And Sparky felt no shame in feeling that way in the face of his own endurance.

He then noticed Zappa making her way over to the Infirmary. She stopped on the way to the door and turned to look back at him.

"I'm sorry, Sparky, but I have to go check on my sister. I'm still worried about her." She called to him, before turning and heading into the infirmary. Sparky knew better then to try and stop her, despite the fact Melody might have been busy at the moment and didn't want any visitors. When it came to someone Zappa deeply cared about, such as family and friends, there was no changing her mind once it was made up.

Sparky then remembered something. He needed to speak to Brimstone about the four humans they had lead away, and about this Servine. Clearly there was something big happening, and they needed to have a talk about it. Badly.

Bidding farewell to Hotsauce, and motioning to the Servine to follow him, Sparky made his way to Brimstones house. It seemed Brimstone and Foredawn were busy looking over the map of Johto and Kanto, and placing colored pins across the Kanto side of it. Brimstone had just put one over Lavender Town when Sparky walked in.

They both turned to greet him.

"Hello again, Sparky. I was wondering where you'd gotten off too." Brimstone said, scratching his cheek with his hand. It had been itching all morning for some reason.

Foredawn stepped around the table the map was sitting on and approached Sparky.

"I see you've been keeping busy, young one. Killing Gengar aplenty, Sandshrews, and rescuing innocent little Eevees. Not to mention driving away humans." The ancient looking Alakazam said to Sparky in approval, making him chuckle and scratch the back of his head in slight embarrassment.

"Aww, come on. It was nothing important. It's just me doing my job." Sparky replied in a slightly embarrassed tone, which only caused Foredawn to smile some more.

"Ah, but it's a noble line of work, it is. Not everyone can say they're patrolman material. They're very picky about who they let onto the force. And you do such a great job keeping this village safe. Both you and Zappa." He told Sparky, before looking up and trying to locate Zappa. But of course, she wasn't there. He looked back down at Sparky. "By the way, where is she?"

"The infirmary, checking on her sister." Sparky answered, to which Foredawn nodded. The Servine was standing just outside the door, listening closely. He wasn't quite ready to walk in and introduce himself to the leader of Tribe Alpha and his advisor just yet. He felt pretty nervous. What if he said the wrong thing and they threw him out?

"I understand." Foredawn replied, looking down and shaking his head, before smiling again and looking back at Sparky. "But anyway, you're doing a job that you have every right to be proud of. Your helping to contribute to our lovely village. Unlike a certain Machop who happens to live around here..." His voice trailed off, now sounding frustrated over all the trouble Chopper had caused yesterday.

That got Sparky thinking again. When he had last seen Chopper, the little Machop had been acting... unusual. He wasn't his usual "I'm Cool, I'm Cruel" troublemaking self. He was behaving like a young child who had just gotten reprimanded by a parent, which was most unusual for Chopper. Then again, Brimstone HAD threatened to throw him out of the four tribes, which had probably hit the little guy hard.

Foredawn had cleared his throat, bringing Sparky out of his thoughts. The Pikachu looked up at him.

"Sparky, I sense there is something bothering you right now. What is it?" Foredawn asked. Sparky quickly remembered why he had come here and turned to the door, motioning for the Servine to come inside. As soon as the slightly nervous grass-type walked in, both Brimstones and Foredawns full attention were on him. The Servine was now feeling even more nervous. He clearly was not comfortable with being around such old Pokemon, and one in such a position of power.

"And who's this?" Brimstone asked. He was pretty sure none of the four tribes, including his, were home to any Servine. Foredawn was giving a slightly curious look. This grass-type had a look of minor distress upon his face, as if he were in a really uncomfortable condition at that time. That, or he had been through something awful, and was still feeling terrible about it.

Sparky looked over to the Servine, gave him a nod to tell him everything was alright, then turned back to Brimstone and Foredawn. He gave a small breath before speaking to the two.

"About him... we got a pretty big problem. Concerning the humans. And Nightsides little fiasco in Goldenrod City last night." Sparky told them, which made them both look around each other in minor confusion. What could have happened this time?

"Well, we're all ears, Sparky." Brimstone said, as he and Foredawn went over to their map table, Sparky and the Servine right behind them. Sparky took a seat around the table and let out another short breath. He had a feeling this was going to take a while.

\- THE INFIRMARY -

Meanwhile, over at the infirmary, Melody and Zappa were currently busy checking on Cupcakes condition. She seemed to have recovered almost all of her lost blood, and was feeling much more energetic then she had been the previous night. This made Melody very happy.

"She should be back on her feet by tomorrow morning." She told Zappa, who had smiled happily. Cupcake was smiling happily, too. She was still glad to be alive, after her close call atop Mt. Squirtle.

"Do you hear that, Cupcake? Your almost better! Then I can give you a tour of the village! It's going to be so much fun!" The electric-type happily exclaimed, making Cupcake smile and giggle.

"I'm just happy to be alive right now. I thought for sure I was going to die on that mountain..." The Eevee had said, which made Zappa frown. It upset her that her sister was still talking about her possibly dying. It was such a terrible thing for someone at such a tender age to be talking about.

"No. Sparky wouldn't have allowed it. I'm sure he would have found a way to save you, even if it meant crawling to his demise to do it." Zappa said boldly. And she meant it. This made Melody smile again.

Cupcake looked over a her in minor confusion.

"Sparky? You mean that brave Pikachu who rescued me?" She asked her big sister, who nodded happily.

"Yes. He's the chosen one, and the one destined to save our world from the evil that's trying to take over." Zappa explained. Cupcake nodded in understanding, though she was slightly shocked. No wonder that Pikachu had taken out that Sandshrew so easily! He must have been pretty powerful to have been able to do that so quickly with only Iron Tail and Quick Attack.

Then again, she had been fighting to stay conscious at the time, so she hadn't noticed every little detail, apart from the fact a crazy Sandshrew had tried to murder her, and a Pikachu had saved her.

"I really wish I could meet him, like, not half dead and bleeding to death." Cupcake had said, as Zappa stepped closer, pulled the covers up closer to Cupcakes head, and give her sister a sweet kiss on the forehead, making the young Eevee smile and giggle.

"Sleep tight, Cupcake. I promise you'll get to meet Sparky properly very soon. Just as soon as you've fully recovered. Until then, let the nurse take care of you, alright? You'll be out of here by tomorrow morning." Zappa told her sister sweetly, which made her smile, before turning and walking past another bed and over to Melody, who was currently busy trying to sort out some old files.

Cupcake watched her go, and then allowed herself to slowly and peacefully drift off to sleep. Perhaps some nice dreams would help her pass the time.

Melody, who was busy trying to sort out what appeared to be old medical files, heard Zappa approaching as the electric-type came to a stop in front of her.

"She will be able to leave the infirmary tomorrow, won't she?" Zappa asked Melody, which made her look up at the electric-type and smile.

"Yes, she's mostly healed up and her blood levels are back in the safe area. Tomorrow she should be fine. But she still needs to rest the night. It's not been easy for her." Melody said, which Zappa wholeheartedly agreed with. She rather her sister heal up completely before leaving the infirmary. She didn't want Cupcake running around the village when she was still in a rather fragile state.

Melody had finished sorting her files and got to her feet.

"Well, that's those old medical records sorted out." She declared triumphantly, as she turned to face Zappa. "Why don't you go on ahead and get back to work? I have to tend to an injured Bellsprout in the back room. I'll let you know if anything comes up with your sister." She suggested. Zappa nodded, then turned and, after a quick glance at her sister, who was peacefully sleeping, made her way out of the infirmary. She figured Sparky was over at Brimstone's house talking about their encounter with those humans. So without any further ado, she made her way over there quickly.

\- BRIMSTONE'S HOUSE -

Back in Brimstone's house, Sparky was just finishing telling Brimstone and Foredawn about what had happened with those humans when Zappa came in. Everyone else turned and greeted her happily. She took a seat around the map table as every looked back over at Sparky, who had spent the last ten minutes explaining everything that happened with the four humans and his unexpected rescue.

"I think that's it." Sparky said finally. Brimstone appeared to be somewhat disturbed, while Foredawn was thinking very deeply about something. The Servine, who's name was revealed to be Whiplash, was sitting next to Sparky, looking somewhat less nervous then before, but still slightly nervous.

"Hmm. This is very troubling, Sparky. If humans start showing up here by the carload, we're going to have a more difficult time keeping them out of here." The old Charizard had said. He had a point. Humans typically came in small groups of one or two. But if they suddenly started showing up in groups of four or more, it would be very difficult to drive them away safely. Especially if some of them turned out to be police officers, government officials, Trainers, or Professor's. Sparky had been lucky that he had been able to drive off these last four, but it had still been a close call.

"Indeed. We may have to begin increasing security around here to keep the humans out. We don't need more of them coming around here, causing us more trouble then we've already got." Foredawn said, still thinking deeply about something.

"We could install watchtowers at the edges of the village, but they'd have to be hidden by the trees to keep us hidden from above, so they wouldn't be of much use." Brimstone had said. He couldn't see how watchtowers would be useful. Even of they were installed on the edge of the small forest that surrounded the village, there was to great a risk that they'd be spotted.

"We can't move our patrols outside the tree line. We'd be sitting ducks to any aerial attacks. Plus we'd be out in the open." Sparky said. He would rather remain hidden by the trees when patrolling the village borders.

Foredawn had sighed in frustration. He was trying to figure out something important, but had lost his train of thought. He stood up, walked past Brimstone, and went to his meditation chambers. Sparky watched him go before turning to Brimstone, looking confused.

"What's up with him?" He asked, pointing a thumb at the doorway where Foredawn disappeared into. Brimstone simply sighed.

"We got some info from Tulip's scouts not long ago. Apparently, a large war party, at least a hundred strong, was seen heading toward the coast. They're not en route to any of the villages, from what the scouts know, but they're pretty sure that war party is going to attack. The only question is, what are they GOING to attack?" Brimstone asked, still slightly stumped over this bizarre activity. If they weren't going to attack a village, or raid another town for it's Pokemon, what were they going to do?

"What was this war party composed of?" Sparky asked, wanting to know more details. Brimstone looked down at him.

"Thirdty percent ghost-types, thirdty percent grass-types, and fourty percent electric-types." Brimstone replied, a sad look upon his face. "They're definitely going to attack something along the coast. They don't even want it to be fair for their target."

Sparky suddenly had an angry look upon his face.

"That sounds just like something Darkmoon would do. He's gotta be the one behind this." Sparky had said. It had to be Darkmoon. Who else would organize an attack like this?

"Your correct, Sparky. It is Darkmoon. One of his generals was seen leading this massive army." Brimstone replied, which made Sparky look up at him again.

"Which one?" Zappa asked, also looking up at Brimstone, dreading the answer.

"Edgeleaf the Leafeon. Her Cut and Razor Leaf are the stuff of legends, able to cut dragon-types down to size. She'd have no problem dispatching a bunch of water types." He told Sparky, who didn't seem very happy with who was leading this attack team, which, even as they spoke, was making it's way to the southern coast.

"Do you think we can stop them?" Sparky asked Brimstone, who wasn't sure about their chances against a whole army of Darkmoons minions, who were being lead by one of his most dangerous generals.

"I can't see why not, but it'll be tricky. At least a hundred foes to face, plus an extremely powerful general. And if any reinforcements show up, it's not going to be a happy time all around." Brimstone said, thinking deeply about how they would possibly go about combatting this war party. They couldn't just rush in head-first; They'd likely get annihilated.

"Well, we've gotta do something. Darkmoons got something nasty planned, and I'd rather not wait around and see what it is." Zappa said, to which Sparky nodded in agreement. If they were going to act, it had to be quickly, before Darkmoon could cause them anymore trouble.

Whiplash had finally decided to speak up.

"Is there anything I can do to help? I feel like I owe you guys a favor for helping me earlier." He said, which made the other three look over at him. Brimstone nodded his head.

"Actually, yes. Right now, I think you're our best bet for dealing with this issue." Brimstone told Whiplash, which made him cock an eyebrow at him in confusion. Sparky snapped his fingers.

"Of course! Darkmoons attack force consists of Pokemon who have a type advantage over water! They won't be expecting a grass-type to join the frey!" Sparky said, which made Zappa smile and Brimstone chuckle.

"You bet, Sparky! But we're going to need more then a grass-type to take out this invasion force. What else has an advantage over ghost, grass and electric?" Brimstone asked, putting a hand to his chin and thinking for a moment. A rock-type would stop the electric-types dead in their tracks, but they'd need a fire-type, like himself, to protect said rock-type from the grass-types. They'd also need something to handle the ghost-types. And as much as Brimstone wanted to, he couldn't go and join Sparky in this battle; He had to much work to do to leave the village for any length of time.

"I hate to say it, Sparky, but I have to stay here for a while. I'm up to my neck in work with all these scouts showing up, delivering me reports. You'll have to count me out of this one." He told Sparky, who gave a disappointed look. So much for just Fire Blasting everything to ashes.

"We'll have to find another fire-type, then. We're going to need one to help us with Edgeleaf." Sparky said. Zappa had decided to chime in.

"Maybe we can get Hotsauce to help us." She suggested, but Sparky shook his head at her.

"No, she has to stay here and guard the village while we're gone. We can't leave the village unprotected." He told her. She made an "o" with her mouth and lowered her head. She thought for sure Hotsauce could have helped them.

Just then, Whiplash had an idea.

"Hold on. I have a friend who lives in the area who's a fire-type. He's somewhere on Mt. Moon. Maybe he can help us." He said happily. Everyone else had turned to look at him with wide eyes.

"Really!? Well, that makes things simpler." Brimstone said, a large smile on his face. Sparky and Zappa had stood up.

"Can you take us to his place?" Sparky asked. Whiplash looked over at him and nodded.

"Why, certainly. I was figuring on heading over to visit him, anyway, once I'd gotten my bearings in this place." He replied. Sparky looked as if this battle wouldn't be impossible to win after all. At least they'd have a fire-type to deal with the grass-types. Not to mention Edgeleaf.

"Well, can we get going now? The longer we wait, the more time that attack teams got to hit their designated target." Sparky said, and without any further delay, Sparky, Zappa, and Whiplash made their way to the door. Brimstone was still smiling as he waved goodbye to the three.

"Good luck out there, Sparky!" He called after them, causing them to look back and wave at him, before heading out of the house to go track down Whiplash's friend on Mt. Moon.


End file.
